End with Honor
by PromisedSword
Summary: This is not a tale of love. Love means nothing to those of the Fire Nation. This is a story of honor. Warning: OC story. On hiatus, indefinitely.
1. The Temptation of the Blade

This is my Avatar fic. But...it is not any ordinary Avatar fic. This is not one of those ZukoxKatara fics--nor even a ZukoxOC fic. Why? Because love is insignificant in the Brilliant Land, the soon to be ruler of the Middle Kingdom. Love was nothing...and ex nihilo, nihil fit. (From nothing, comes nothing) No, Love did not take the Fire Nation as far as it did. In fact, it was love that brought about Prince Zuko's disgrace and exile. Honor...courage...loyalty...those were the things that moved nations. This is one such tale, where love falls back and the warrior codes of that time take the stage. More than one hundred years after the Fire Nation went to war against the Middle Kingdom and the other nations, and just more than two after the honorable Prince Zuko was exiled, a woman of honor -driven by honor, with honor as the promised reward- and rank searches the world over for the one thing that can restore her land to what it is meant to be.

**End with Honor**

**1. The Temptation of the Blade**

Heat…pain…a gush of life-giving blood…a scream…

But the scream died away before it could break from the prison of its body. It was forcibly silenced, so no one would hear her. But so far away from any civilized habitation, it was an unneeded precaution. But still, it was better not to chance someone hearing it. Not when she was so close to being done…

"Argh…damnit…" Ming-Na Hinoken, or as her ceremonial name was, Mingeline-Nanamye Hinokenna de Fyre rie Destavina sa Camansha, forced her bloody arm into the river once more, biting back the pain that came from the herbal medicine that was disinfecting the would as the river water washed it clean. She had damaged it during practice with her Rensha, a scythe-like weapon that was used in ceremonial combat. It was a tricky weapon, due to the fact that the blade was curved, and to use it honorably, you had to hold it with the curve tucked into the crock of the elbow until attacking, so for a beginner it was easy to cut the flesh. Ming-Na, however, was _not_ a beginner, but she still had problems with the formal weapons, due to the unfortunate incident two years ago. But she never thought about that anymore.

Ming-Na finished in the river, dried her arm off, and bandaged it. It was not a serious wound--not this time. But there was still two hours of training left, and she was _not_ going to stop until finished or seriously maimed. She resumed the Gen Szu Ta, the 'entrance position' where the Rensha was hooked around the neck, held by the weaker arm. Then she quickly shifted into Li Dyo Ka, the 'start' position. With her legs crossed, one straight behind the other, she spun the Rensha up off her neck to let it rest in Gu pose, the 'non-attack' position, aforementioned as held in the stronger hand with it resting in the same arm's elbow. This was the tricky part now, shifting from Gu into Ran, the 'attack' position. She flipped her arm upside-down so her thumb was parallel to the ground, and flicked her wrist forward so that the Rensha flew into the air. Last time it had not been executed cleanly, so it had caught the fleshy part of her arm, but this time it flew true, up into the air, and she caught it with her left arm.

Two hours passed this way: Gen Szu Ta, Li Dyo Ka, Gu-then-Ran, repeat. She even chanted it under her breath,

"Gen-Szu-Ta…Li-Dyo-Ka…Gu-then-Ran…_repeat_!"

Two hours later, a sweating and panting Ming-Na was bathing in the cold river water that ran near her camp, relishing the iciness of the water against her heated skin. After a while, she began to cool down from the heat and anger that battle seemed to bring in her. She looked down at her reflection then, wondering how she looked. The same Ming-Na stared back at her: –really, was she expecting something else?- same golden-brown Asian eyes, same slightly pale –yet healthy- skin, same medium-length perfect black hair. She had looked in many mirrors since she left the Palace, and they all showed the same thing. But this was not who she was, this 'Ming-Na Hinoken' was not her. Mingeline-Nanamye Hinokenna de Fyre would not be up in the woods of the Middle Kingdom, 'training' and sweating and cutting herself on blades that she never would have wielded otherwise. No… Mingeline-Nanamye Hinokenna de Fyre would be sitting on a small onyx throne in the Palace, watching her mother hold court; or being instructed by one of her many tutors in things such as etiquette and cooking –Princess 101, Zuko had called it- or even better…watching a flaming sunset in her own room, after tiring hours of boredom and tedious lectures, finally able to become a human being again.

She was a princess of the Fire Nation, the only daughter of Fire Lady Empress Hyo-Lee, the female half of the double monarchy that ruled the most feared part of the known existence. The monarchy was unique in the way that it was ruled by two separate people, not related in any way. Her own mother was in charge of domestic affairs, economy and the general state of affairs. The Fire Lord led the martial affairs, which was chiefly winning the war again the rest of humanity, as well as being the figure of power. But that did not make her mother any less powerful, for it was an equal rule. But now it seemed that there would be no continuation of this rule, for both the prince and princess -the Hope of the Future- had been exiled, she by choice, he by order.

Ming-Na sighed. She did not care for flashbacks of her life, as she tended to get bitter and angry, when she thought about how she should not have had to exile herself, depressed, when she thought of Zuko's exile, or –worse by far than the other two- weak in the knees and blushy, when she thought of Zuko himself. Now that she was on her own, she couldn't afford to be bothered by weaknesses, and love was a huge weakness. And she was in love…

She turned around quickly when she heard a twig snap on the back behind her. It was a teenage guy, around her age--maybe –probably- a bit younger. And the river was only waist deep, so…

"AAAAAIIIIIEEEE!"

The guy -boy, really- just stood there blushing like mad as he looked at Ming-Na's exposed top half. She screamed again, and frantically tried to cover herself, all the while thinking, _I thought no one ever came this way!_

"Uh…ah…sorry…!" The boy said, stammering and tripping over himself to leave. She was furious with him; that was for sure. Grabbing a towel from the riverbank, she ran after him. Crashing through the undergrowth, she ran after the boy that had the _nerve_ to look at her body. She stopped as he turned aside--followed him…and she ran right into a clearing. She immediately jerked back, not wanting the two--no, three--of them, two boys and a girl, counting the damn bastard who had seen her in the river, to see her like this: wrapped in a trowel.

She marked their position in relation to her own, then silently made her way back to her camp. She got dressed in her normal outfit. Then, putting her hair up in the hunter's braid of the assassins who worked for her mother, she silently stalked back to where their camp had been.

In the brush just outside the clearing, Ming-Na watched as her now death-marked watcher talked with another, younger girl. It was clearly his sister. Then, her eyes focused on the third, standing slightly apart from the siblings. The markings on his skin identified him as an Airbender; the last one too. And that mean he was only one thing: the Avatar. She had to restrain herself from running over with a battle-cry to take off his head -using the training she should never have learned- that instant. Even so, a feral smirk played across her lips; like the one a jungle cat must use when they have spotted a weak member of the pack.

This Avatar _was _weak--and untrained beyond a few simple attacks. It was with a shame that made her blood boil that she realized Zuko had been beaten by this _child_. If not for the fact that she knew better that to do it, she would have become like an avenging angel, and rent his head off with one fell swoop. But Ming-Na, while the exiled princess of the Brilliant Land, was still a huntress. And she knew the best way to defeat an enemy is to know the enemy, and that was exactly what Ming-Na planned to do.

Putting on a look that was equal parts embarrassed and innocent, she stepped into the clearing to face her enemy.

* * *

"Ming-Na?" The Avatar asked. Up close, he really was a child. And the two from the Water Tribe –they had been introduced as such, but Ming-Na could already tell from their lack of discipline- were barely older. All in all, she could easily have them dead in two weeks--at the most. 

"Yeah." She said, and smiled. Not the cruel, sadistic smirk she had had playing on her lips earlier. No…this was something she would've never done otherwise. This was an unguarded smile. It was one that she never used anymore. "And…Aang…?" Oh, how she hated to use his name. If you named something, you acknowledged it's presence as something noteworthy. And by no means was the _Avatar_ –much better- worthy.

"Yup, that's me!" And then…his mouth opened wider than she thought possible. _Was that his jaw detaching?_ She thought. No…it was a…_smile_… "And these are my friends Katara and Sokka." _Ah, so those were the ones from the Water Tribe…_

"Pleasure." Katara said, holding out her hand. _How uncouth. Does she really expect me to touch it?_ As expected of a Fire Nation princess, she gave a bow equal to Katara's rank. Which meant it wasn't very low.

Sokka looked at her, the faintest tinges of a blush on his face and neck. Ming-Na fumed inside. Not one man had ever seen her naked; not even her father--and now this _boy_ had seen her naked and…vulnerable. That was not acceptable. "I--I'm sorry…about…you know…" He shrugged; visibly uncomfortable.

Cringing inside, Ming-Na answered him: "It's okay…I shouldn't have exposed myself the way I did." _Damn right!_ Seeing himself forgiven –at least on the surface- Sokka returned to packing up their camp. Clearly they were about to leave. She had to move fast.

Ming-Na regarded them coolly, all the while forming a plan. If the Avatar was going to _try _to save the world, then Ming-Na knew he would need someone like her--someone who knew the Fire Nation but wasn't –_supposedly_- allied with them. Plus, with the Avatar's weakness of not having a proper fear of the Fire Nation and it's people, it should be a synch to convince them. Yes, this was how the Avatar would fall…by trust.

"Hey, uh, Aang…?" She asked.

"Yeah?" He looked back at her, obviously wondering what she wanted. Oh…but he would know in time…

"Well…" she looked at 'Katara' and 'Sokka', who she had dubbed in her mind Water Tribe one and Water Tribe two. "Could you come with me for a second?" She knew it would work…he was _far_ too trusting.

"Okay!" The Avatar said; readily following her as she led him away from the safety of his friends and open ground.

They arrived at a clearing not three meters from where the others were. Then, she waited a little, trying to make it seem like she was nervous--but in reality she was not; in reality this scene had played in her head many times. Then, when the moment was opportune, she spoke. "Aang…there's something I need to tell you…" Her eyes were downcast, to hide the fury in them.

"Yeah?" He asked, trying to catch her eye. "Is something wrong, Ming-Na?" _How _dare_ he use my name!_

"Well…you're the Avatar…and…Oh! Please don't look so surprised, it's pretty obvious because of where I'm from…which is what I wanted to talk to you about." She refused to meet his eye still. The raw anger she had felt since first seeing him was still there; after all, the reason both her and Zuko's lives had been ripped to shreds was this child -who had probably never had to worry about anything in his life- who was now trying with everything in his power to destroy the last piece of honor her home had left. After losing their Hope of the Future, after trying so hard to win a long war, after perfecting everything into an art, into beauty…and then this boy was to stop it all!

"Then…where _are_ you from?" He looked concerned by her silence.

This was the culminating moment. She had done the act, talked in their way, become friendly -even to the Avatar- with them, and now was the climax of her little play. Would she earn pity? Scorn? Fear? Hate? Would she be allowed to come with them, or be turned back, honorless, to trudge home with her tail between her legs? This…was…it.

"I'm from the Fire Nation, Aang." She looked up to meet his eyes, and the tears in her own –planned beforehand, of course- were real. She did have tears in her eyes…but they were not for the reason Aang, or anyone else, would have thought. Mingeline-Nanamye Hinokenna de Fyre rie Destavina sa Casmansha, princess of the Fire Nation, cried because the world had come so far away from what she was used to. Two years ago, she never would have thought her hair would be cut, her clothes dirty, her name all but forgotten…far away in a distant land, away from home…away from honor.

He looked at her, long, and then smiled. "You want to come with us, right? To make things right between the four nations?"

She nodded, drying her tears. Now was not the time for crying. "Yeah. To make things right, Aang…"

"Okay, I'm sure that'll be cool. After all, since you lived there, you could help us; you know, 'know your enemy' and all that." _Oh, you have no idea…_She thought. But soon he would. Soon all the pain she had known would become his. Soon…she would save the world.

She looked relieved, and she was--but not for the reason Aang would have thought. It had worked; she was in. All her searching had paid off; the years of toil and ache; and now…she was _in_!

She followed him back to where the other two waited. They smiled as Aang told them that she would be accompanying them. _Smiled_! Smiled as their world was nearing the beginning of their end.

_So…this is the Middle Kingdom's last hope? _Ming-Na asked herself. _Three kids –two of them untrained benders, one a bumbling idiot- and not one of them older than fourteen? The world might of well have already fallen! _Her eyes narrowed into slits, the feral grin back, but as the other three's backs were turned, not one of them saw the danger in her face; the promise of death. Just a hint above nothing, she whispered to herself. "And once the Avatar is where he should be…all will be right in the world."

* * *

Hyo-Lee, Lady Empress of the Fire Nation, sat with her back to the cool stone of her throne. It was in a lull of audiences and meetings that she once again realized it had been two years since her daughter had been exiled, and yet no word had reached the capital of her whereabouts. Rest assured, as soon as Fire Lady Hyo-Lee knew where her ungrateful daughter had gone to, she would herself come to drag Mingeline back. It was nearing the turning point in the war, and Mingeline was not here to witness it. 

"Mei, Lien…" she beckoned to her handmaidens. Pretty girls both, as befitted a Lady of her rank. Mei had the most gorgeous silken hair, and Lien the palest skin and reddest lips. But neither of them looked even close to their mistress. With flaxen hair of a sunset color, and eyes a fiery red, she was a sight to see.

But her outer beauty hid a hardened and ruthless core. Three years ago, when an assassination was attempted, she stood there coolly--even with a blade to her throat. It was with a frigid heart and stony will that she ruled. And once Mingeline was found, she would be shown a side of her mother that only the worst traitors and fiercest Earth Kingdom warriors saw. Mingeline would see the side of Hyo-Lee, Fire Lady; Empress of the Brilliant Land, that had made killing into an art.

_To be continued…_


	2. The Art of Deception Part I

Thank you to everyone who reviewed this weird little fic of mine. Thank you, **The Next Avatar**, **Kelly Riley**, and **Lin13**. Your reviews mean so much.

* * *

This is a tale of honor, courage, and loyalty -the things that moved nations- where love falls back and the warrior codes of the time take the stage. More than one hundred years after the Fire Nation went to war against the Middle Kingdom and the other nations, and just more than two after the honorable Prince Zuko was exiled, a woman of honor -driven by honor, with honor as the promised reward- and rank searches the world over for the one thing that can restore her land to what it is meant to be. 

**End with Honor**

**2. The Art of Deception Part I**

"Today is the day of destiny!" He looked so handsome today. His usually mild and open face had a light in it that was hardly ever seen otherwise. It was pride for his land, for his nation. Prince Zuko glowed today with a fire that burned deep inside him.

It made tears come to her eyes; young Ming-Na, barely eleven years old –young, beautiful, and madly in love- looked on with a wide-eyed awe. Seated in a covered pavilion off to the side of the soldiers, on an equal level with Zuko, –high up on top of a battlement- she watched as his speech gave hope to their brave warriors.

"Today we strike! at the heart of the Earth Kingdom's forces! And…" His eyes narrowed to slits as he saw in his mind's eye the total destruction of his bitter enemies' forces.

"When we strike…" his voice got quiet, so soft you could barely hear it…and then it _exploded_ as he shouted down to the army all around him. "_We will destroy them_!" A loud cheer erupted from the ranks of soldiers down in the courtyard. Zuko, high atop the battlement, looked on as the warriors of his nation cheered for him. Ming-Na cheered too, part of her caught up in the moment, but most of her was just proud. Proud of her heritage, proud she ruled over these people, proud she was engaged to Zuko.

"We will break through to their hearts…and rip them out! Children of fire, warriors of our nation; today is the day we fight! And if we die…" his voice got quiet as he spoke the last sentence. "We die with _honor_!" He shouted. This time the cheers were loudest, screaming up to the stars and shaking the earth. This was a nation at its best. This was the Fire Nation, with no equal…

"Today…we _kill_!" And Zuko's voice was soft, and full of menace.

Ming-Na met him again a few hours later. It was a chance meeting in one of the halls of the palace, but one she most desired.

"How was it, Ming?" he asked enthusiastically. His voice and face were much gentler. It was always like that with him. Normally he was so kind –but do not think him a pushover, for he could be stern, and tough as nails when he wanted to be- but when he greeted the soldiers, or watched the generals file into the warlord meetings, his face hardened, all traces of youth lost. It was a look of war, the look that was upon him. At times it scared her, but today he could do no wrong.

"I loved it." She smiled at him. It was a smile she gave to him and him alone. He was always special to her--everyone saw it. Sometimes one of her handmaidens would tease her about the 'thing' she had for the young prince. Rie or Yume would laugh, while Lin would blush. And Ziyi would be the one teasing her. Those four were her best female friends, while Zuko was her best male friend.

"Yeah, I guess…" Zuko seemed to look past her then, as if seeing something far away. "But speeches don't win wars, do they Ming?"

"Zuko, that is not your concern. Not yet!"

"But it will be." Zuko's tone had a hint of bitterness in it now. Ming-Na's face softened into empathy. They both felt it: the pressure, the lectures, the tiresome duties. They were the 'Hope of the Future', after all.

And Ming-Na knew that after years of this, that hardened visage would become the truth. At least…her head knew it. In her heart, Ming-Na could never imagine Zuko any way other than he was now. He would always be that handsome young man, whether giving speeches, working with his private tutor, or talking animatedly with her after all the duties of the day were done.

But then, the scene shifted -changed and rippled like water- melted away to show to Ming-Na a Fire Nation ship, alone on the ocean. And on the deck, looking ever northward, was Zuko. Only it wasn't –couldn't- be him! His face…the left side was…scarred…burned…_disfigured_! And…the look of war was upon him.

Ming-Na felt a feeling of horror…of revulsion…grow upon her. She was disgusted by this _thing_. It couldn't be him…God, no…not him…

"Ming…?" it spoke, concerned.

_No! I can't face him now! Not after he looks like that…! _She turned away, hands covering her face to make sure she couldn't see him the way he was now ever again.

"Ming…?"

_No!_

"Ming…!"

"_NO_!"

"Ming-Na!" she woke with a start to find herself in a sleeping bag on a remote island, with her honor blade drawn and pointing at Aang. She could see his face reflected in the crystal surface of the blade. He had been trying to get her to wake out of her dream, judging by the fact that his arms were on her shoulders, and he had seemed to stop in mid-shake. Her dream's nature must have been obvious; yes, it was just a dream. Zuko could never look like that.

"Bad dream?" The Avatar asked her. In his eyes was a look of concern; the same look she might have seen on one of her handmaiden's, or her father's, or Zuko's faces. The past week had done nothing for her plan, except make her relations with the Avatar –she refused to call him Aang unless she had to- all the more intimate. Just the other day he had tried to talk to her about their dreams for the future. And she couldn't exactly say 'Avatar, I need to kill or capture you to win back Zuko's honor, and help the Fire Nation win the war'.

"Just memories…" she looked away from the Avatar, trying her hardest to keep up the act. Normally, she could've executed a cover-up flawlessly, but after that dream, she could only try her hardest to stop the shaking. But it was still a shock to hear his next question.

"About your time in the Fire Nation?" He looked concerned –had all along- but this time she could finally read him. And in this case it wasn't hard. In the last hundred years of war the cruelty of the Fire Nation had become legendary. It was no wonder that the Avatar had asked that one question. Still, on top of shaky nerves and the thought of losing one of the vital parts of her life, it was just too much. She broke down, -whipping her head around so they wouldn't see the tears- something she should never do. It would dishonor her entire world, and everyone in it. But to Ming-Na honor was no longer important.

_What about your heritage? _A voice in her mind asked, desperate to not see her lose her honor like this. _Damn them to hell!_ A second voice shot back in fury and sadness.

_You're a warrior! Pull yourself together! _Voice number one.

_I would've never had to be if Zuko hadn't been such a coward! _Voice two, who was the current strongest.

_What would Zuko think if he saw you like this!_

_Who cares about--_She was pulled to an abrupt halt as this thought fully penetrated her mind. She did.

_She _did.

She _did_.

And it was the one thing that brought her back from the brink.

But Aang, and Katara now as well, could see her plain as day. And, being the fools that they were, they wanted to help her. _Understand_ her…Like they ever would! They knew nothing about what she had to go through every day. It was just fun and games for them! A little road trip to the North Pole; that was their great quest. These people had no idea what she had to go through.

"Are you alright, Ming-Na?" Katara asked sympathetically.

Without turning her head, Ming-Na answered Katara's question with one of her own. Hopefully the fools would follow the lead she was about to give them.

"Do you know of the battle of Nageshika?" She asked. Katara, if any, should. But she needed to keep up the fast-fading act, and so without waiting for an answer she continued on. "A Fire Nation army of two thousand faced an Earth Kingdom Citadel where their strongest warriors –maybe two hundred fierce Earthbenders- were housed. It should have been an easy victory for the Fire Nation…right?"

"I remember reading about that." Katara said. "The Fire Nation army was slaughtered down to the last man. But…what does that have to--Oh, Ming-Na, I'm _so_ sorry. Who did you lose?"

"Who _didn't_ I lose." She smiled ruefully--a fake, of course. But her next words were true, and all the more fitting for it. "I lost everything that day." Her father, who had planned the attack, was shamed, and had had his hair cut--a sign of dishonor for high warriors. Her mother had divorced him from her family entirely. Zuko had gone into his room and hadn't come out for two months; when he did come out he had lost a lot of his youthful tendencies; the part Ming-Na loved maybe the most. He was able to always make her smile after a hard day's work. But not after that day. And he never called her Ming again. It was always Mingeline, which was what her damn mother called her.

"But it was just a dream. Let's go now." She said, and picked up her packs. It would not do to become weak now.

* * *

In the markets of the Earth Kingdom capital, a wayward prince was lost. Wei-Fei Li had had no intention to wind up far from his guard, but somehow the massive crowd had gotten them separated. Which was a good thing, because he hated having a personal guard with a passion. He was able to take down twelve Fire Nation warriors with one attack, yet couldn't leave his home without ten of his own men to baby-sit him? Just three years ago, he and two hundred of his strongest warriors had defeated two thousand Fire Nation troops. And he needed to be _protected_ in his own capital! 

But now that he had lost them, he could finally have some fun. And that meant girls… But where do you find girls? As his mind searched for possible hang-out spots for hot young girls, he searched the crowds for possible girlfriends. And stopped on a promising group of two. One was just a bit too young for him, –thirteen at most- but the other was most promising. They had their backs to him, so all he could see was their hair, one's brown and intricately braided, the other's black and unbound- and their forms. Yes, the ebony-haired one was most promising. She had an air of confidence and control that attracted Wei-Fei to her. But something struck him as rather forbidding. But he was quite the charmer, so he ignored it and walked up to her.

"Excuse me milady, but you seem to be new here. Would you like me to give you the grand tour?" He asked, resting his hand on her shoulder, and leaning close to her. Girls just loved this.

"How dare you try to _pick me up_." She said, her voice full of venom. She spun around to reveal a face he knew well. Standing there, dagger drawn, looking as deadly as a cobra, was Ming-Na.

"Mi-Ming…Na?" Wei-Fei asked, shocked. "What in all the nine hells are you _doing here_?"

_To be continued…_


	3. The Art of Deception Part II

Not much to say this time…I saw last Friday's Avatar…and I have no clue what to think of the new girl. (Anyone catch her name?) I think it's fifty percent admiring her coolness and skill, and fifty percent loathing her. (I have no reason for this…I just think she and Zuko might end up together…and that brings me great sadness.)

Now,

* * *

This is a tale of honor, courage, and loyalty -the things that moved nations- where love falls back and the warrior codes of the time take the stage. More than one hundred years after the Fire Nation went to war against the Middle Kingdom and the other nations, and just more than two after the honorable Prince Zuko was exiled, a woman of honor -driven by honor, with honor as the promised reward- and rank searches the world over for the one thing that can restore her land to what it is meant to be. 

**End with Honor**

**3. The Art of Deception Part II**

Ming-Na looked shocked herself. It was as if a ghost from her past had come back. Wei-Fei was someone she hoped never to see again, yet here he was. And…if word got out about her past…all would be ruined. "Wei…Fei…" She said, awkwardly. What could she say that would not bring about the questioning she feared.

"Ming-Na, you know this guy?" Katara asked in a puzzled manner. Just as Ming-Na feared, it had already begun. Now was the day that had come before only in her darkest nightmares.

"I'm Wei-Fei." He said. "And, as to how Ming-Na knows me…" at this he hesitated. With good reason too, seeing as Ming-Na could become very volatile in an instant. He looked to Ming-Na for the okay, but she didn't give it.

Inside, Ming-Na was thinking fast, trying to come up with some explanation that would keep her secrets safe. Then it hit her. It was daring, and –for once- required her to rely, even if just partially, on someone other than herself. So she inwardly composed herself, and spoke.

"Wei-Fei is the prince of the Earth Kingdom. He led the defense at Nageshika." She said simply.

"Ming-Na…?" Wei-Fei half-asked.

Katara looked from one to the other, then her eyes settled on Ming-Na. In them was a look of pity that could not help but make Ming-Na's blood boil.

_Oh! _Ming-Na thought. _How _dare _she look upon me with pity! I only wish I could just stab those eyes of hers out!_ But of course, she couldn't. Not if she wanted to complete her mission. But…once the time came, she would be able to do that, and much more. If she got through this test –and of course, the many after it- then all her sweat would turn into the blood of her enemies, her tears would been seen on the faces of those who opposed the Fire Nation, and all her sleepless nights –more than could ever be counted- would become those of the Avatar…knowing she was out there, somewhere in the dark, hunting him down.

Wei-Fei looked confused; then caught the look Ming-Na was sending him. 'Please…" it said. "Help me!" Then his face softened into a look of understanding; but in the blink of an eye he joined her in her act. He looked away from Katara, trying his best to look ashamed. But since he hadn't gone through all the training Ming-Na had, it came out rather like he was constipated.

Inwardly cursing Wei-Fei's stupidity, Ming-Na tried her best to draw attention back to herself. "Katara," she said. "You don't have to put yourself through all this. It's my own business, and besides, I'm…I'm past all that now."

"Ah…" Katara said awkwardly. She looked more than happy to continue searching for the needed supplies. As Katara walked into the distance, Ming-Na turned to Wei-Fei, a look of scorn in her face.

"Come, Wei-Fei. We need to talk." She said curtly.

She led Wei-Fei out of the market to a part of the city few came to. Dirty and cramped, it was one of those places no one went unarmed. When they had, in Ming-Na's expert opinion, reached a place where nobody could listen in -alley in a part of the slum that looked like a place not even the homeless dared go- she spun him around and slammed him up against a building's wall, a jagged, wicked-looking dagger to his throat.

"Wei-Fei Li…" she said in a dangerous whisper, "do you know _how_ close you just came to ruining the one thing I have worked for _years_ to obtain!"

Wei-Fei shook his head. Of course he didn't know. In the time they had known each other, Ming-Na had never talked about such things. But the time had come to let him in on it--and the way she saw it, he could either help her, or die.

"Wei-Fei," she said in a business-like tone which sounded strange after the threatening whispers she had previously spoken in, "for all the time we knew each other, I never told you why I was so far from my home, right?"

"Yeah," Wei-Fei said; relaxing. The dagger was still inches from his jugular vein, but he knew he was not in any danger now. Six months of living with Ming-Na and her mercurial moods had taught him that the real danger was when she looked upon you with eyes expressing, in terrifying eloquence, that there would be no greater pleasure for her than totally annihilating your existence. The dagger was just one of her many accessories.

"I knew everything else; from who you were, to what you are now, and everything in between…except why you chose to be so far from all that you loved. I hope you will tell me now."

Ming-Na sighed. Wei-Fei was as prying as ever. Half the reason why he knew all he knew was because he had used the same sharp questioning as he was now. Wei-Fei was intelligent; no doubt about it, but the real threat was in his subtle ability to read people. His superior psychological knowledge, combined with a keen eye for the details, gave him an almost preternatural ability to know the thoughts, feelings, and pasts behind any action. _In that aspect_, Ming-Na thought, _Wei was perfection. _

But now it made no difference, for she would tell him all of it anyway.

"Two years ago," Ming-Na began, telling the story that had shaped all of her following life. "My betrothed, the honorable Prince Zuko…"

At this, Wei-Fei stiffened. For, being from the Earth Kingdom, he carried a deep hatred for the prince of the Fire Nation.

"…was exiled. That day –the day of my wedding, in fact- as I waited for the Agni Kai my future husband was fighting to end, I was told by my thrice-damned mother, the accursed Hyo-Lee, that Zuko had refused to fight; had been cast out, honorless and disgraced, from his beloved nation. It was at this moment -while the shock of the fact that one I knew to be more honorable than many had been exiled slowly filled my body; where I realized that the place I had called my home for twelve long years had at last betrayed me; when I knew I had nothing left for me there- that I realized what it was that I must do. It was more something personal than instinct, something more profound than obligation; it was my sacred duty to hunt down, capture, or if need be…kill the Avatar."

At this, Wei-Fei recoiled in shock. He knew Ming-Na was ruthless, hardened, some might even consider her evil, but he never would have thought that she would be set against the one person who could save their world.

"And now, Wei, I must ask you to make a choice." Ming-Na said, looking right into his eyes with her own fearless ones. "Will you help me to capture the Avatar and restore our honor? Or will you stand against me and die…?"

"The real choice, Ming-_chan_, is whether _you_ die!" Standing at the mouth of the alleyway was Chen. Of all the men and women who followed Wei-Fei, she was his fiercest warrior, strongest supporter, and second in command. Her loyalty to the Earth Kingdom's leader was unwavering, not to be swayed by anything, and she had proven more than once that her own death was insignificant compared to that of her mission's or Wei-Fei's. And now, it seemed, Ming-Na would be the one to feel her wrath.

"_Don't_ you _ever_ call me _that_!" Ming-Na said in an icy voice filled with venom and malice. _No one_ but Zuko called her Ming. For this, Chen would _pay_… "And, somehow, I _don't _think I'm going to be the one to die."

"Is that so? Well, I must say Ming, I _admire_ your confidence, truly I do, but I'm not the one you should worry about, for while you may be a match for me, you are no match for _them_!" As she said this, fifty Earth Kingdom warriors surrounded Ming-Na, weapons drawn.

Ming-Na laughed. "I do not fear them, Chen. I laugh at danger."

"You laugh at _death_!" Chen shot back.

"That may be, but I do not fear it. I have been prepared to die since I left my home. You will not understand, but I gave it all up that day. My home, which I have not seen in years, my friends, who have by now all but forgotten me, my ability to firebend, which they took from me before I left, and even my honor, which now lies in shreds around me. I know I will never be able to go back to the way things were before, and knowing this, I give up my life. Mingeline doesn't exits anymore; those days are long past. And as soon as Zuko is returned to where he should be, Ming-Na will be gone too. So come, and witness of fury of one with _nothing_ to lose!"

Chen looked dismayed at Ming-Na's flaunting of her own situation. _Nothing to lose…_It was true. There was no fear in her eyes. Ming-Na stared death in the face and laughed. And it was this that touched Wei-Fei's heart.

"Stop, Chen." He said wearily. "She means no harm."

"Yes I do!" Ming-Na spat.

"No you don't; not in your heart. And even though you do not fear death, I fear yours. It will be a sad day when someone like you leaves this world. And if you fight now, that day will be today. You are not ready for battle."

"I am skilled –far more skilled than these _barbarians_- with the blade. I have trained for years! How could I not be ready?" Her eyes blazed in anger at being told that --after years of her intensive training- she was not strong enough to fight. _Men!_ She though. _Always thinking that we women are nothing but helpless!_ Well, she would prove him wrong.

"Training in theory is a far cry from fighting in battle. I repeat--Ming-Na, you are not ready for this!" Wei-Fei could see the anger in her eyes; the indignation of youth. After fighting in a bloody war for most of his life –ever since he was nine, to be exact- he knew more than anyone else what something like that could do to a person. He did not want Ming-Na to end up a hollow soul like so many others. She was too special to be lost that way.

"Then _you_ fight me, Wei. And if I win, you will agree to help me--unconditionally."

"Wei-Fei, you can't!" Chen said in an anguished voice. "I won't let you get coerced into helping the enemy!"

"Quiet, Chen." Wei-Fei snapped back, harder than he meant to. But she really did need to learn her place. "Agreed," he said to Ming-Na. "But if _I_ win, you will return with me to Ba Sing Sei, and you will agree to keep yourself out of the way of the war. You will return on our side of the war, Ming-Na, and you will learn to like it." He didn't like it, but it would be the only way. Ming-Na would _honor_ her deal if it came down to a fight. And since Wei had three more years of experience than she did, victory would be relatively easy.

Ming-Na's jaw clenched at the thought of aiding the Earth Kingdom. No, even worse, of sitting back behind their lines and doing nothing. Nothing for Zuko, and nothing for her nation. It would be more than dishonorable…it would be treason! But there was no way she would lose. Not here, not now, and not to Wei-Fei. "Fine…" she said between clenched teeth, the sound hissing out venomously. _Take that anger…_ she recalled her father's voice from one of their lessons. _And make it into a blade than none can stop. Harness that bitterness, that sense of injustice, and use it to strike!_

Having only brought the small dagger and Chigiri, her trusty katana, with her, she resorted to a rather crude form of kenjutsu called Chi-ch'an. –the, literally, 'small-large' style- Her katana was held in her right hand with the cutting side down, while her aforementioned dagger lay in her left.

"Come at me, Wei!" she said in a voice that allowed no room for protest.

Wei-Fei, to be fair, had also resorted to using just weapons, –he _was_ a gentleman, after all- only his wasn't edged. Held in his two hands was a wooden Bo staff. With a metal core, it could not be cut in half, as he knew Ming-Na's first instinct would be.

With a shout, he leapt toward her, twirling the staff above his head like the blades of a helicopter, until he brought it crashing forward at Ming-Na's head as he landed.

She met his attack with a parry of her own from Chigiri. Then she whipped her little dagger around, aiming for the small of his back.

Wei-Fei disengaged just in time--pulling back and narrowly missing Ming-Na's dagger. They back away from each other and began to circle; the warriors forming a ring around the two combatants.

Ming-Na sneered, causing her face to twist into an ugly mask of pure, undiluted fury. She clearly outclassed him, yet he continued in their pointless battle. And the _nerve_ of that little bet of his…would her really take all that was precious away from her, even after she had told him the story of her whole life? Would he be so cruel as to make her watch her nation suffer, until the end of her days? Apparently, yes; so she did what her father had told her to, and fed every ounce of anger and loathing into her blows while parrying his with a ferocity that he had never seen. Now he understood why no one made Ming-Na of the Fire Nation mad.

"_Is that all you have!_" She asked him in a voice that hardly seemed human. The thrill of battle was coursing through her veins, and right now…she felt invincible.

Wei-Fei, on the other hand, was as cold as ice. Unlike his opponent, he could not afford to get caught up in the intimacy of the fight, for he needed to win--but not with a death to prove it. The Bo -while it might not have looked it on the outside- was strong enough to break ribs, and with enough force behind it, it could behead the person on the receiving end--and not cleanly. So while Ming-Na burned with passion, Wei-Fei was filled with a cold dread.

This time, _she _struck; bringing her katana around in a backwards arc, swinging toward Wei-Fei's chest. He brought up his staff vertically, just barely stopping Ming-Na's attack, although the blade bit through to the metal core.

Ming-Na jerked hard on the hilt of her sword, trying to pull it free from the wood of Wei-Fei's staff, but it was embedded too deeply. In other words--it was stuck, and not coming out any time soon.

Wei-Fei took the opportunity, ripping the katana out of Ming-Na's hands with a sharp tug on his staff, sending it sailing up into the air to land harmlessly on a rooftop.

Ming-Na's face twisted in shock as her eyes grew wide with fear and anger. "You--" was all she could get out before her throat closed. There was no way she could win with a single dagger.

"Please, Ming-Na, give up!" Wei-Fei pleaded. This fight was getting serious, and who knew what she would do if he got the upper hand. After all, the whole Fire Nation –it seemed- was bound by a horrible code of 'honor'. Killing yourself was not honorable, killing others was not honorable, killing everyone was not honorable, yet it seemed like law to them. That was why he was trying to take his beloved Ming-Na away from them.

Ming-Na with only one small dagger was in no position to fight back. She was trapped with no way out. She needed to win but could find no way. So she did what any one of her peers would do, she fought on: "Never!" she declared passionately. "I will never side with you!"

But this was the moment her opponent had been waiting for. Her guard was dropped, her attention resting in her own thoughts; and then, she felt the cold, wooden end of his staff resting against her neck. "Too bad for you, you don't have a choice." Wei-Fei, the victor, said coldly.

Ming-Na felt something cold and sharp enter her chest. It was akin to shock but stronger than steel; sharper than pain but harder to heal. It was the resounding fact that the next days of the rest of her life would be spent watching the war on the side of her enemies. That she would 'learn to like' a life of peace--no, not peace; a life just like the one she had been trying to escape all those years ago in the Fire Nation. She just knew it would be that way. She could see the promise of those days in Wei-Fei's eyes.

She let her head hang in shame; let her hair hide her empty face; let her body sink to the ground…all the while feeling the cool wood like an icy fever on the spot of her neck it had touched.

She. Was. Dishonorable.

She. Lost.

She. Would. Spend. Her. Life. Like. This.

Then, quicker than the eye could see, she had her honor blade out and level as she stood up. Saying in a calm, measured, even voice –that still managed to seem very fragile- "You…or me?"

Wei looked at her blankly.

_Ignorant fool!_ Ming-Na thought bitterly. When someone held a weapon –particularly _that_ weapon- and asked 'you or me', it was simple to understand. Or maybe dear little Wei didn't think she could go that far. Well she could, and she would.

"This weapon is called an honor blade," she said as if teaching a kenjutsu class. "It is forged from a crystal substance just strong enough to hold together being drawn and sheathed, but still weak, so that after a stab or mortal cut, it will break."

She could see Wei-Fei's brain asking why this mattered. Well, he'd find out soon enough.

"Only a chosen few…the highest and most honorable…are bequeathed this weapon. And there is a reason: this blade is to be used as a last resort; to regain your honor by death…or in death."

She would savor the shock and disgust in Wei's expression even after death. It was just so utterly _like_ him to not understand one of her nation's oldest and most sacred rituals. It showed that even if he had beaten her, she still had the upper hand. Knowing this time her line would be oh, so much more potent, she said again, "Now, _you_…or _me_?"

And there it was again. That wonderful look of his. The look that told her in an instant that he would never, _ever_, be her equal. He may have won in an act of her foolishness, but in the end she was the only one with any honor left.

"Ming-Na, this is foolishness! Put that thing away now!" He ordered.

"I take no orders from you." She shot back cruelly. "Even now, Wei dear, you are _weak_. You may have held your _stick_ to my throat, but that was not a victory. You may have had your little gloat over my defeat, but it was watered down by pity. _Pity for the enemy, Wei_. And you may have your _morals _and your _righteousness_, but I have my honor, and that is far above anything you pathetically cling to. You are _not_ my equal, Wei-Fei, and you will never be unless you start acting like a man. Now, answer the question!"

Wei-Fei looked at her, regarding her with measured eyes. Cool and calculating--this was the Wei-Fei Li she liked, not the weak boy whom she had had the displeasure to fight with. And then, his next words took her breath away. "Coward." He said, flatly. He wasn't expressing an opinion in that voice; he was stating a fact.

"What did you say?" Ming-Na said in the icy, dangerous whisper that she used when someone pushed her too far. She stepped close to Wei-Fei, honor blade held in an attack position. "What did you _just_ say?"

"I said you're a coward, oh _Lady _Mingeline." He said. "You are weak. You are pitiful. You are…_dishonorable_."

If Ming-Na still had her firebending powers, there would've been a large mass of flame surrounding her right about now. As it was, she still looked like she would kill Wei-Fei with her emotions alone. Her eyes blazed with something beyond fury. There were no words that could describe what she was feeling. Only an emotion that linked to her from the generation of warriors she had been born under.

"You would rather run and hide in death than face for another second that someone beat you, Ming-Na. You would rather kill me, the only one who could help you, than live with the…what was the word you would use…_shame_ of losing. Don't act like a _spoiled princess_ Mingeline. Act like a warrior and _face _the fact that you lost. Isn't that part of your code…_courage_? Or is that just the premise you hide under, because from where I'm standing you're everything _but _a warrior."

"How _dare_ you lecture me, Wei-Fei!" She shouted. It was rage, pure, unfiltered, uncontrollable rage. She had lost all common sense; all conditioning; all reason. She was an animal.

"You're still hiding, Ming-Na; hiding in your anger. You need to _face the truth_. You lost, but who gives a damn. Not me, not my men, not Chen. The only people who care about that stupid filthy 'code' of yours are the people you hate. Why let them control you! Be yourself for once! And stop acting like someone's dog."

She came at him, honor blade ready, but he brought his staff up and blocked the attack with no more trouble than it would take to swat away a fly. The crystal blade broke. "And stop acting so useless. It's unbecoming."

_To be continued…_


	4. Razor Sharp, Paper Thin

Just as a general reminder, I changed an important part of the first episode, so if you're reading this, please go back and re-read. Just…basically forget about the original first chapter, because it will make little sense later on if you go by the original. I REPEAT: GO RE-READ EPISODE ONE. I cannot stress this enough! But anyway, now that I'm done with _that_…

Sorry it took so long for these newest episodes to come up. I was having trouble coming up with any ideas, and then I thought about something I had planned for a later chapter, and decided to foreshadow it there. It also sets the stage for the one quite nicely, so I'm rather happy with it.

* * *

This is a tale of honor, courage, and loyalty -the things that moved nations- where love falls back and the warrior codes of the time take the stage. More than one hundred years after the Fire Nation went to war against the Middle Kingdom and the other nations, and just more than two after the honorable Prince Zuko was exiled, a woman of honor -driven by honor, with honor as the promised reward- and rank searches the world over for the one thing that can restore her land to what it is meant to be. 

**End with Honor**

**4. Razor Sharp, Paper Thin**

"There is a line you must never cross, Ming-Na." In her mind, she had gone back in time to her first lesson with her father. Her first class in kenjutsu, or, sword arts as some called it. "A line no wider than a sheet of paper, but sharper than the Fire Lord's sword. Lesson one: never, ever cross the line from warrior into animal."

_Forgive me father, _Ming-Na thought. _I have crossed that line, and lost my honor blade in the process._ Sitting way back in the saddle of Appa, she watched the red- and pink-tinged clouds pass beneath her. It had been almost a full day after her defeat by Wei-Fei -and she was not talking about the fight- yet she still couldn't get his words, and her own actions, out of her mind. And, to add to the disgrace, he had broken their deal, saying 'the Earth Kingdom shall not be _dishonored_ by one so weak'. So apparently, she wasn't even good enough to be held by the barbarians.

Again her mind drifted back to that lesson. The lesson that had helped, in great part, to shape her into what she had been. "A warrior fights with honor and courage, but more than that, a warrior has control over herself. No matter how bad a situation gets, no matter what your enemy says, no matter how close to death you are, you _must not lose control_."

_I'm not worthy of who I am…_ Ming-Na thought. _I have now failed both sides of my family. If I were back home, I would be cast out in disgrace in an instant. But I'm not home…and it's worse knowing that, because I can't keep going knowing, if I were at home, these events would have at least been acknowledged--even if dishonorably. But here, they don't care. They will never understand me…no one will. I'm from the Fire Nation. I was the Hope of the Future. But now I am nothing, not even a disgraced princess._

"Hey," Katara said, looking at Ming-Na with concern writ in her features. "You haven't talked since yesterday." It had been Katara who had found her, alone in the dark alley, as the night began to fall. It had been Katara who had helped her back to their camp, and it had been Katara who had driven off the boys' questions. Ming-Na would've been thankful to the Water Tribe girl, if not for the fact that it had been _Katara_ who had questioned her all through the following day.

"You don't eat--you _barely_ sleep!" Sokka chimed in. "What happened back there!"

But Ming-Na wasn't listening to the siblings. She was thinking about all that had happened in her life. First, she had failed her mother: as princess of the Fire Nation, she had obligations of her rank to fulfill. And while it may have involved senseless rules of etiquette and a china-doll-like purpose, it had been her birthright. But more than that--it had been her first and foremost duty. But she ran away from it to live as a warrior in the hopes of helping Zuko. But, just two years after this new life began, she failed at that too. She was neither strong enough nor brave enough to live as she had been expected to. Hyo-Lee would hate her for being too weak to even live the luxury life of a princess, and her father Jin would be dishonored by her weakness as a warrior.

_So what's the point…?_ She thought dejectedly. _Why should I even bother with the Avatar?_ Her eyes came to rest on Aang. She had spent two horrible, miserable, homesick years looking for him--_Zuko_ needed him; the _whole Fire Nation _needed him. But now she thought that maybe she just wasn't cut out to capture him. Maybe all she was good for was wasting space. _Maybe I should just tell them who I am…they'll figure it out eventually._

But she was spared the choice by Aang's voice saying: "We're sleeping down here tonight!" He pointed to a small island out of the way; a place surrounded by rocks that rose out of the waters around the small beach to at least fifteen feet in height. There was no way Zuko's ship could land there. Which was precisely Aang's point in choosing this place.

"Good choice." Sokka stated. "We'll be out of reach of Zuko and what other Fire Nation ships are in the area.

But all Ming-Na could think was _A quiet place to end…_ Thought without her honor blade, it would not be a true, _honorable_ death. It would just be an empty act, proving once and for all that she was a dishonor to her land; that she didn't belong. So as princess of the Fire Nation, she must suffer the pain in silence, knowing she would never again be welcome among her people.

As they settled down on the compact earth of the island ground, the two siblings, followed by Aang, slid off Appa. Ming-Na, however, stayed stationary.

"Coming?" Aang asked, looking up at her with those disgustingly innocent eyes of his. How could someone whose life would very soon become a battle for the lives of everyone he loves still have such child-like eyes? At the age of eleven, Ming-Na had lost those eyes.

Bitter jealousy once more filled the young princess. Hate of the Avatar broiled up inside her quicker than she thought possible. How she hated him, and everything he stood for. She knew once more that no matter what the personal cost, the Avatar must be destroyed. All from looking into the eyes of a twelve-year-old boy who still had the courage to live his life as best he could.

* * *

Sitting around a dying fire late at night, Ming-Na's mind sifted through memories of her past. Stories she had been told at one time or another, lullabies sung to her sleeping form in the obsidian-encrusted cradle of her youth, cries of battle as one by one, the men she loved were torn away from her by war and exile. Her father; Zuko. Always Zuko. 

No matter where she went, he was with her. He had been there when she had broken her right arm, he had been there when she had been wracked by nightmares, he had been there when she learned to firebend; he had been there in her triumphs, he had been there when she felt disgraced. He had felt the heat of the sun as she stumbled through deserts, he had felt the frigid cold of the snow as she staggered amongst the poles, he had been there with her through the rains and the winds and even the calm, peaceful moments of life as an exiled princess.

He was with her in every waking moment: his hands guided her thrusts and parries in battle, his heart rejoiced with her's in the thrill of battle. He sweated with her through three hours of training every day; he knew the sting of a wound from the Rensha, and he knew the relief and laughter that comes after successfully executing all sixty-eight patterns of blade swings in the Ku maneuver.

He was with her when she slept: he knew the absolute loneliness that comes after dreaming about the best parts of home and then waking up in the middle of nowhere; he knew the feelings of helplessness that accompany dreams of searching and questing for unknown things; he knew the heat of the flames in her Fire Dreams. He knew exquisite beauty could come to one while sleeping and, that while tears might've rain down your face, you may not remember the feeling the next moment when you awake. He knew that portentous dreams never come when you need them. He knew that her dreams never mattered anyway.

He screamed along side her when Sokka saw her naked. He cried with her when she realized –so many times- what her world had come to. He laughed at the stupidity of the siblings' actions, and hated that the Avatar still could see the good in people--just like she laughed and hated them. He felt her weakness when Wei-Fei called her dishonorable, he felt her pain when her honor blade had broken, he felt her shame as to what she had become. Her felt her love: love for her family, love for her Nation, love for him.

He knew that she could sense him beside her right now.

And somehow, it made her even more lonely. With the night's noises at a comfortable distance and the sounds of sleep her five companions made strangely muted, she might've been all alone on a new world. The first and only person in her plane of existence where the people she had met in her lifetime were nothing more than ghosts or figments. She was the only one who could see the sky.

As she thought this, she looked up, expecting to be greeted at once by the moon. But there was no moon, nor stars. The night was clouded, and this made her sad. Now her world had a cap over it. She was stuck in a bottle in her world, and would soon be put on display.

"Princess…" a small voice said. Ming-Na whirled around, first looking at the intruder, but then –before she could even see their face- she snapped back to check that no one had heard her title.

"Come with me." she snapped, grabbing the person by the wrist and pulling her off, away from the light.

* * *

Faced with the girl who stood before her now, Ming-Na chided herself for being so jumpy. It was just a little girl, though a dirty and disheveled girl at that. She could be no older than twelve, this girl. Her hair was a mass of tangles and rat's nests, her teal eyes ringed by dark circles below them and bags above them. Her brown clothes were thread-bare and more dirt that cloth. The hem of her shirt was frayed far beyond repair, and her breeches –yes, breeches- were torn at the knees. She wore no shoes. 

Yet she still managed to look innocent and hopeful. Despite the wear on her, despite what her clothes suggested she had had to live through, she still looked like the kind of girl who could laugh at the slightest joke and smile wide at the nod of a passerby. She reminded Ming-Na a lot of Aang.

"What's your name, Es'sa?" she asked somewhat kindly, even thought she tried not to. 'Es'sa' was a not-unkind way of referring to a younger girl in a big-sisterly way. Literally it meant 'one who means much to a few', and this was the first time Ming-Na had used it.

"Sying." The girl said simply. It meant 'star' in Chinese--and the name suited her. She _was_ as pure and shining as a star. But how did this girl know of her rank…Ming-Na was as out of her own element as it could get, not to mention with cut hair and warrior's clothes. Well, the only way to know was to ask. So she did.

"Sying, how do you know who I am? I don't even think my own mother would recognize me…"

She stared up at me with innocent eyes, and said, as honest as Chih-Lo, the Goddess of Truth, "I knew it by a lot of things. You carry yourself like a princess. Noble, regal, so sure of yourself. And also, I could tell when I saw you looking up at the sky. You reminded me of Ming-Huo, the way you looked up at the sky just then. You were thinking about _him_, weren't you, Princess Mingeline?"

_Ming-Huo was a maiden out of my favorite story when I was little. _Ming-Na thought. In fact, there had been a rumor that she had been named, partly, in her honor. Ming-Huo meant 'beautiful fire', and it fit both the first and second incarnation of the name. She could just see her father bending low over her and saying 'In behalf of my parentage, I name this girl Ming.'

It was a custom among the Fire Nation that when a child was given two names, the father chose the first half and the mother the second. Few girls –or boys- ever got two names anymore, but the practice had been common in her parents' time.

But her namesake did not have such a happy story. Ming-Huo had been born during a troubled time, where Firebender fought Firebender, and the strongest nation of all lay divided. She was a beautiful girl, with hair deeper than the darkest shadows and eyes golden and shining with all the good things in the world. Her skin was lily-white, and her lips were red as blood. She was the perfect girl, who not only looked beautiful, but was graceful, polite, and kind to everyone. Everyone who knew her loved her, and though her little village was out of the way, it had more joy and love in it than the brightest palace.

One time, when Ming-Huo was sixteen, she was bathing in a little spring just outside of her home, when a young man happened upon her. She turned slowly around to face him, her long hair hiding any indiscretions. The young man, being a gentleman, quickly averted his eyes, but did not leave.

"How did you come here?" she asked when she had gotten dresses in her blood-red kimono. The man wore the armor of the Quon family, though he was far from his lord. He did not have any wounds, so she did not think it could be because of a battle.

"I was…exiled…by my lord, milady…?"

"My name is Ming-Huo, noble sir." She looked up into his eyes and then at him in general. He was tall, with a lean but strong build. His hair was black, but not held up in a topknot like the other warriors' had been: it was hanging loose to just past his shoulders. His eyes were a dull gold, much like her's but darkened by loss and sorrow. He could not be but two years older than her.

"And I am Xia-Yu."

Ming-Huo sheltered him in her home, cared for him, and helped him forget about his troubled times. In time, they fell in love, and no couple was happier. The years passed, and Ming-Huo and her now-husband Xia-Yu never lacked for anything. Then, five years after they had met, a messenger arrived from the Quon family with the news that Xia-Yu was no longer exiled, and could return home.

Ming-Huo was happy for her husband. "You finally have regained your honor!" she cried, and leapt into his arms. But her husband was not happy.

"You do not know the lord of the Quon like I do, love. He is a ruthless man, and will only want me back to fight and murder for him. I will not go."

Ming-Huo agreed, and the two fled their little town. They lived on the run, moving from place to place, but both knew it was for the best. Then, one day in a small city on the eastern edge of the Fire Nation, a high-ranking warrior from the Quon found them. He forced Xia-Yu to go back to his former lord, leaving the heartbroken Ming-Huo in tears.

For six months, Ming-Huo stayed in her room, not sleeping, barely eating. She had given up all hope. Surely Xia-Yu must have been executed for his 'treachery', and now she was all alone. So she gave up all hope, and her eyes turned from bright and hopeful to dark and dead as she watched the skies for signs of his soul.

Xia-Yu, however, was not dead. While he _had_ been severely punished for running, he had lived through it, and now carried out his missions quickly and effectively, all for the hope that the sooner he did his harsh duty, the sooner he could reunite with his long-lost love.

So six months passed this way, until the Quon leader grew bored of his new warrior. It was tiring to have Xia-Yu always doing what he was told--following his leader's commands to the letter. The Quon wanted a new form of entertainment, and that meant blood and death. So he commissioned Xia-Yu to the front line of the forty-first division of troops: the new, inexperienced, recruits. Then he sent Xia-Yu and his troops to fight against the Chu-Jung leader's best army. The Chu-Jung were the best bunch of Firebenders, trained –as the legend went- to fight even after death. So Xia-Yu went marching to his death and knowing it, every step of the way. His final thoughts rested with Ming-Huo, knowing that he would never hold her in his arms again, never say 'I love you', never again know in his heart that he was the luckiest man on earth. And just as the Quon's leader knew, Xia-Yu and his men all died--bloodily, gruesomely, horribly died. And then a letter was sent to his wife, as custom demanded it.

Ming-Huo received the letter. Just as she had known, her beloved husband had died in his service. And just as _he_ had known, she couldn't live knowing she would never see him again. She walked out to the spring where they had first met, and, kneeling at the water's edge, she began to stoke her internal flames.

As she felt her skin heat up to the temperature of a high fever, she remembered how he would come home after hunting for food, bringing –no matter if he had food or not- a bouquet of Fire Lilies for her to wear in her hair.

As the sweat began to drip off her like rain, she smiled as she saw in her mind's eye the way he always found time in their day for the two of them to watch the sunset together, with her body in his strong arms and her head resting against his chest.

Once the steam began to rise, she closed her eyes and breathed in his imaginary scent--of charcoal, cinnamon, rosemary, and –strangely enough- of summer roses.

As the flesh on her arms and legs began to peel apart; as blood welled from the breaks, her fading consciousness felt him once again beside her, in her, all around her. He was brushing away her tears and kissing her hair and whispering in her ear.

As her mind closed off from the pain of a million slashes and burns, while the flames on her and around her licked sensuously at her body, his voice was singing the lullaby he sang to her after they first made love.

And as she died, she opened her eyes, and saw him walking toward her, transparent, with his hand extending to hers. She took it, and stepped out of her now-ruined body, and the two ascended past the stars, and into the great Ring of Fire that surrounded their world.

When Ming-Huo's mother found the body of her child beside the spring with a serene expression and a smile of transcendent bliss on her face, she whispered the old saying that had been passed on from parent to child across the entire Fire Nation: "She died by fire, so her soul is cleansed of evil."

As Ming-Na finished retelling the story in her head, the silence of their little patch of forest fell upon her ears. It was heavy, oppressive; dangerous. Ming-Na knew that she must do _something_ to fill the silence--to beat it back down to a silent whisper in the back or their minds.

"Sying…" she said in a strange voice. It was…bizarre, perhaps? Yes, it was bizarre that here and now, in the presence of a very dirty, very innocent girl, that she felt the silence so heavily. She had sat in silence as the night went on for two years, and yet, only now did it bother her.

_Maybe_, she thought, _it's because for these last nights I've had company…_ Company; it was a strange word to hear from Ming-Na, who had liked being alone better than many things in recent years. Yet she had gotten used to Sokka's snores; Katara's quiet breathing; Aang's mumbling in his sleep. The nightly noises of three who, even while on a dangerous quest besotted with enemies, could enjoy sleep as casually as if they were at home.

And for once, that didn't make her angry. Sleep--she had never had the pleasure of enjoying sleep. From the time she was very young, she never had the luxury of a peaceful sleep. As princess of the Fire Nation, as the Hope of the Future, she was a valuable asset to her family alive, and an even more valuable asset to her enemies dead. But she did not begrudge her companions, if only because once her plan succeeded, they would never sleep peacefully again.

Sying looked up at her. "Yes, Your Highness?" Ming-Na had forgotten she had spoken the younger girl's name, much less without a reason.

"I would like some company," Ming-Na said in her most regal voice. She gestured to a rock overlooking a river. "Come, sit with me. Our talk will drive away my loneliness."

Sying bowed her head, and followed her princess toward the aforementioned rock. They sat, and Ming-Na tilted her head up to the sky. The clouds had finally parted, and their moon shone through, illuminating their place with an unearthly light. It was one day until full, and a buttery yellow. "I love a yellow moon." The young princess said cryptically. "It means a battle is coming…"

Sying stared up at Ming-Na, a look of confusion in her eyes. "Why…does that please you, princess…?" She asked in confusion. It was not like a princess –of any sort- to enjoy battle, or the coming thereof. "Why does battle please you…?"

Ming-Na looked at her young companion. "Sying," she asked gently. "What is your dream; your greatest dream? The dream you want so bad to come true that it keeps you up at night; that dream that, no matter what is going on in your world, you still put foremost in your thoughts?"

Sying too gazed up at the moon, before she answered. The silence lengthened, and once more Ming-Na felt the feverish desire to beat it back. But she waited for her young companion to speak. It was the polite thing to do, after all. And to this girl she was still Princess Mingeline-Nanamye Hinokenna de Fyre, so she must act the part, even if she didn't feel it.

Finally, Sying spoke, and her voice was sweet and soft. "My dream…?" But she did not wait for Ming-Na's confirmation, choosing rather to take a deep breath and say in a very uncharacteristic tone –rather a cross between business-like and insecure- "My dream…is for my land to…belong--finally, belong."

This startled Ming-Na a little. The Fire Nation would soon be at the head of a great empire, it would not need to "belong". It would rule, not conform. But she did not let this show, instead she simply stated, "Then you must know what it is like, no matter how uncharacteristic; no matter how shocking, to _need _that dream to be real. _That_, is why I look to the moon, and wait for the battle it foretells to occur."

There was silence now, but Ming-Na did not feel the need to fill it. It no longer ate her up inside, clawing in her chest, but rather sat beside her and held her. There were words she wanted to say now, but she could not say them. There would be a time for those words to be said, but not now. Now, she filled the silence with more silence, and that did not bother her. Her silence allowed her mission to live, and what _did _fill the void were the imagined words and scenes that would occur for real only after those words were said. So she waited, knowing one could not exist without the other, yet while neither lived, Ming-Na could rest in peace.

They sat there in silence, looking up at the moon, wandering in their own thoughts, until Sying spoke up. Her voice was hesitant, as if she didn't want to say what she was about to, but knew she needed to anyway. "You're out to capture _him_, right Princess?" Ming-Na froze. "That's why you're out here, like this, right?" Ming-Na slowly turned to face her companion. "That's why you're so far from…our Prince…?"

"I…just want to help…" Ming-Na said, voice glistening with tears, even though her eyes were dry. "I don't want the glory…the praise…I have enough of that already…" She looked away from Sying, looking westward, toward her home. "All I did…I did for it…for him…"

Sying looked shocked at first, but then placed a comforting hand on Ming-Na's shoulder, drawing the older girl close into a heart-felt embrace. "I know…we _all love_ our Nation…we would do anything for it. And for you…you have someone who you love, and, if I'm not horribly mistaken, who loves you back. It must've hurt, tearing yourself away from all that's dear, just for them. Our Nation, and our Prince…"

"Yes…" Ming-Na sighed, and leaned into the embrace, letting her head rest on Sying's shoulder, happy that she had found someone out here, in the wild lands where she thought no comfort could reach her, who could hold her and chase away her inner demons. She could finally act her age again, knowing in her entirety that the life of a killer -warrior, she corrected herself- was no way for _any_ girl of fourteen to exist. She needed peace, and even while she knew that in a few hours' time she would have to give it up, she had found it. Wrapped tightly in the arms of a girl who, alone of all who knew the princess, understood the need that drove Ming-Na so desperately toward danger, and most certainly death, Mingeline-Nanamye Hinokenna de Fyre -princess of the Fire Nation, the Hope of the Future- found peace, at last.

They talked then, of any- and everything that their minds thought of. Ming-Na told Sying of her hatred of a heartless mother and love for an exiled father; how she had been trained in secret in the art of war and loved it; how she had finally found friends in her four handmaidens; and, last and longest of all, of the love she felt for Zuko, and how close they had come to a happy ending.

Sying told Ming-Na of how her little village in the Fire Nation had fallen on hard times, and how she sought to right it; of her caring family who had, nevertheless, been of little help; and how, at long last, she knew that it was not for her to solve.

After this, there was once more a lull in conversation. It reminded Ming-Na of waves on an ocean's shore, these breaks in speech. One voice would begin, and like a crystal blue breaker, it would wash through the night's silence, until it receded and the speaker was silent. Then the other girl would talk, her words rolling out into the night like a wave to the shore. This silence came slowly, as talk gradually died out, and it lasted longest of all.

In that silence, a question formed in Ming-Na's mind. Exactly how did a Fire Nation girl get so far out here. And why? She was positively filthy, and yet so…innocent. She must have done it on her own free will. But why…? Ming-Na had told Sying her story, and she expected the same thing in return. Yet the young girl had made nothing but vague comments about the actual events in her past, and only when absolutely necessary; only now, however, did it strike Ming-Na as odd.

_Fool!_ She chided herself. Had she become so relieved to be welcomed that she had forgotten her caution. Was she growing soft? Was she becoming…normal? She would not allow it. She would make up for her previous foolishness by finding out the truth about this girl. But she still needed to be cautious. She would not put it past her mother to use a child to drag her daughter home.

"I have told you of my past, present, and very possible future, Es'sa." She said conversationally, so as not to frighten Sying. Maybe this girl had a good, _honorable_ reason to be out here alone. "Now, would you care to do the same?"

Sying dispelled all notion of a noble reason by violently shaking her head 'no'. _Never trust a child to be subtle, mother._ Ming-Na thought wickedly. Once she stopped trying –it seemed to Ming-Na- to detach her head from her shoulders, Sying looked up at her senior with wide, beseeching eyes.

"I just _can't_!" She said, trying to catch her princess's eye; to plead with her for mercy. "My parents told me to never tell anyone!"

_So not my mother then. _Ming-Na thought. Who else, though, would use a child for an unspeakable –literally- purpose? "So that includes your princess now, does it?" she snapped. This was tiring. Adults knew when to give it up. But not children, and of all her luck she was dealing with a very innocent child. "It there's anyone at all who deserves to know, it's me!"

This left Sying thoughtful, but after a span of only a few minutes, she opened her mouth to speak. "Please, Highness, do not think ill of me. I could not choose my birthright, like many others."

Ming-Na nodded, but with no real conviction. If this girl was a traitor, then she would deal with her herself. But the young princess stayed silent, and let the girl tell her tale.

Sying began, first looking down at the dark earth, and then slowly reaching her gaze up to let it rest in Ming-Na's eyes. "Before I tell you anything more, I must let you know that, if nothing else, I grew up loved, Lady."

_Why does it sound like an excuse…? _Ming-Na thought.

"I was born in autumn, with the trees like fires themselves there to greet me. But despite the display of red-and-gold beauty I saw in my first few months, I knew little of those colors. My home -and the places all around it- lie in exile. So then, so now.

"But I lived in peace, and was happy for it. I may not have the red silk kimono or the steel gardens that you did, but I was loved and it was all I cared about. My food may have been plain, and my house quaint, but I had joy. We were poor, but still lived like kings."

_This girl…_ Ming-Na mused as Sying spoke on, _is more grown up than I ever thought. Innocent, yes. But not naïve. _It was in the way she spoke. Her words were so elegant and poised that they might've come out of the lips of a princess. _A better princess than I, though. _She was so exquisite, wrapped in her memories, that one could see that loneliness had not touched her here.

"Then, only a few days after my tenth birthday, something happened. My family, because of a recent flood mixed with the shortage of food from a drought, could no longer support the seven of us. Someone had to go. My mother was sick, and my dad had broken his knee. My youngest siblings, the twins Ai and An, were no more than babies. My great-aunt and great-uncle were too old. So _I _left. I came here, and lived here up until now."

"Alone…?" Ming-Na was once more torn to sympathy. She couldn't have bore it, if it were her. All alone, missing her closest friends and most-trusted confidants.

Sying smiled that same, small, understanding smile. As if she was the older girl, knowing something that young Ming-Na was too little to understand. "Not alone." And left it at that. "Maybe, if you'll forgive me, you'll understand one day."

Ming-Na smirked, allowing a little bit of her more recent self to float to the surface. "When I'm older?" She asked wryly.

"When you've grown." And then the morning sun cast its light across the faces of the two Fire Nation girls, revealing tears on both their faces. However, these tears were shed for the same girl; the little girl who still had such a long way to go until she grew up.

* * *

Riding away from the island, where Sying still lay, Ming-Na once more let her thoughts turn to that lesson with her father. _There is a line you must never cross, Ming-Na. A line no wider than a sheet of paper, but sharper than the Fire Lord's sword. Lesson one: never, ever cross the line from warrior into animal. _Those were the first words that had been spoken in her first class of kenjutsu. But now, Ming-Na thought about the last words of that day's lesson. She had waited, knowing that was the way it should be, until they had finished everything else. Then, like a prophecy come into fulfillment, Ming-Na had spoken these words, the last words on the first day of her path to becoming a true warrior: 

_How do you do that, father? _She had asked at last. _I have seen the look of men who fight. They all look like animals. How do you stop before you cross into becoming like them?_

And her father had answered, in words all but forgotten, _By never, ever, forgetting that you are human. You may be in the thick of battle, fighting for your life, but you are still a human girl. And what do all human beings have? Compassion. _Compassion for your enemy, Ming-Na. _You may have to take his life, but never forget that he, just like you, fought through weakness and fear to become who he is now. Win the battle, and then mourn for _all_ the dead on that field. Because everyone has shed tears, had heart broken, has had to struggle not to cross the razor sharp, paper thin line from a human being into an animal._

_To be continued…_


	5. The Price of Duty

I would like to apologize for doing this, but it's –sadly- necessary:

I will no longer be able to do shout-outs or, as I call them, reviewer acknowledgements, due to this message from the homepage of **Review Reply: Authors may now reply to signed reviews via a link provided in updated review alert or using the "reply" link displayed next to each signed review. Please note the reply is not displayed on the site but emailed to the reviewer. Only one reply is allowed per signed review. Putting "review responses" within story chapters is now unnecessary and more importantly, _not allowed._**

I'm also going to be deleting the previous replies so that my fics don't get deleted. I am **_VERY _**sorry about all of this, as I love replying to your posts, but since I don't want to get my story deleted, I'll have to take them out.

_I AM** SO** SORRY_!

Please forgive me…

On another note, Ming-Na repeatedly calls Zhao 'Commander', instead of 'Admiral' in this chapter. Read carefully: THIS IS NOT A MISTAKE. I think that it's reasonable that Ming-Na has been out of the loop for so long that this information has not yet reached her ears, thus providing a very rude wake-up call. Well, that's it, I think. Okay…

* * *

This is a tale of honor, courage, and loyalty -the things that moved nations- where love falls back and the warrior codes of the time take the stage. More than one hundred years after the Fire Nation went to war against the Middle Kingdom and the other nations, and just more than two after the honorable Prince Zuko was exiled, a woman of honor -driven by honor, with honor as the promised reward- and rank searches the world over for the one thing that can restore her land to what it is meant to be.

**End with Honor**

**5. The Price of Duty**

"You know, it's been pretty quiet these past few weeks." Sokka's statement was heard echoing out along the range of mountains they were passing through. And it was true; eerily, portentously true. In fact, ever since Ming-Na had joined up with the trio, there had been little seen of Zuko, Zhao, or anyone else. This gave cause to worry for all four of the travelers. Why would they now -after being fraught with attacks from all sides, for so long- have a quiet road? If anything, their enemies should've been after them worse than ever, desperate to stop the Avatar from mastering Waterbending.

"I agree…" Ming-Na said, inclining her head to Sokka. In the past few weeks, Ming-Na had developed a new respect for the young warrior. Both Sokka and the princess herself had no bending powers, which gave them something in common; added to this, they had the same mindset. Sokka did have warrior's instincts, Ming-Na saw, and she never minded the odd sparring match between them. She had even forgiven him for their first meeting. Sokka, however, was still distrustful. It was this though, most of all, which made Ming-Na like her companion. When she captured the Avatar, Ming-Na thought to herself with a small smile, Sokka would be spared.

But as she brought herself back to the topic at hand, the first thought that entered her mind was, _is this because of me? _Ming-Na's recent joining up with these children –although, granted, in hard numbers Sokka was older than her and Katara her equal- might've had something to do with the easy going they had had. But, while it might be enough to set Zuko off their tail, why would it scare away men such as Zhao. Surely Ming-Na's own mother had decreed her return, with a nice monetary bonus attached. So why had this part of the going seemed so easy? No…something was wrong with the entire situation. It put Ming-Na off; made her decidedly uneasy.

In the silence that followed, an aura grew up among the four, as they each turned their thoughts to a possibility of attack; ambush. "Should we make camp then?" Aang asked, pointing down to the sparse forest below them as he voiced aloud their thoughts. "I know it's earlier than we planned, but if both of you think something's up, it would be better to be on the ground, where we can all fight."

The other three nodded, and Aang turned the reigns on Appa, setting him toward the ground.

"We should figure out a plan of action," Sokka said in an authoritative voice. "In case there has been a trap laid for us."

The other three nodded. While to an outsider, it may have seemed that Sokka -and his companions- were overreacting, but Ming-Na knew they couldn't be too careful. The Fire Nation was ruthless, and they would go to any length to destroy their one opposition: the Avatar.

What Ming-Na's three fellow travelers didn't know, however, was that for the first time…she did not have an ulterior motive. For some inexplicable reason, the exiled Fire Nation princess wanted to help them fight off this threat--unless, of course, it was Zuko.

Sokka issued orders as if preparing for a siege. He built defenses to be used on land, but even more to be used while flying. He checked supplies, sharpened weapons, and had Katara replenish her water skin. It was almost as if he knew something the others didn't.

By the time the sun had drawn low in the sky, this idea had cemented itself in Ming-Na's mind, and as night rose, she made up her mind to ask him about it. Ever so subtly, she shifted herself over to where the young Water Tribe warrior was surveying their surroundings. "Sokka," she said, making him jump. Clearly, he was not as calm as he looked.

"Huh? Oh, Ming-Na." he looked relieved.

"Sokka, you know someone's coming, don't you?" Ming-Na asked this gently, but there was a little bit of steel behind the kindness--steel that made it plain he could not hide it from her.

Sokka sighed. "Yes." He went on, without waiting for an answer, "Zhao."

Ming-Na's eyes narrowed; her mouth set itself into a grim line.

"You know him?" Sokka asked.

"I do." The answer was said with such distaste that Sokka backed away a little. Indeed she did. Word of him had traveled even to the Fire Lord's court, and she hated him from the moment she first heard his name. From the kissing-up to his superiors, to the ladder-climbing, he was an embodiment of all that Ming-Na hated--all that was wrong in the Brilliant Land of the Fire Nation. He gave a bad name to the honorable warriors; a worse one to his people in general. And he was dishonorable. From the time he was a young boy, to now as a 'Commander', he was about as honorable as the scum on the bottom of his boots. Probably even less. And now, he was after the Avatar…after Aang.

"Don't tell the other two." Sokka said quickly. "If they figure it out on their own, fine. And if they haven't by the time Zhao arrives, then do it. But until then, they can't know."

Ming-Na nodded. Not in agreement, –Katara and Aang could definitely handle themselves- but to acknowledge Sokka's current role of leadership.

"Okay." Sokka nodded, reassured. "Then why don't you take Aang and patrol the southern shore. It's the easiest place to reach, so Zhao will probably try there first."

Ming-Na nodded, then set off the find Aang, glad that she had the first shot at the monster bearing down on them.

* * *

After another six hours, this time of watching, Aang had fallen asleep. Ming-Na, who herself was barely conscious, did not blame him. It had been almost a full 24 hours awake for everyone, and even now, the sun had just peeked over the horizon.

But it was in this morning light that Ming-Na saw the ship. The Fire Nation warship.

"Zhao!" hissed Ming-Na, and shook Aang awake. Together they watched as the ship drew close to the shore. Aang reached for his staff.

"No!" Ming-Na barked. "Go back to the others! Tell them he's coming! I'll hold him off here."

Aang took one look at her, nodded, and turned. She watched him leave, then went for a pair of Dao longswords she had strapped to her back.

"Where are you hiding, little Avatar…!" the Commander spoke so softly, Ming-Na barely heard it. But even half-caught, it was enough. This man stood between her and home. Between her and regaining Zuko's honor. Between her and the Fire Nation. With a silent battle cry, she stood, and walked toward the man who kept the path to honor barred from her.

As the ramp lowered on his ship, Zhao stepped down it, unaccompanied. Soon he was only a few paces from the young girl.

"Finally able to walk on your own two feet, eh, Zhao?" Ming-Na smirked. If there was one thing she knew about what was about to happen, it was that she did not fear this man. Loathe him, yes. But not fear him.

"Ah, Princess Mingeline," He ignored her remark and gave her mocking bow, which she did not return. "How kind of you to grace us with your divine presence."

"Save the theatrics for someone who gives a damn, Zhao!" Ming-Na spat at the ground near the man's feet, and then turned her face up at him, defiance burning in her eyes.

"Watch your mouth, _princess_!" Zhao shot back. "And remember your manners; after all…it's what your dear _mother_ would want, right?"

"So it's true." The exiled princess said shakily. "You are here to take me back."

"Oh dear, not up you're your usual level of perceptiveness, Mingeline." Zhao smirked once again, and Ming-Na's anger flared. To him, she was just a child he was toying with. He –and her mother- thought of her a weak child. But she would prove them wrong. "Only half right." Zhao continued, "You see, _Princess_, you're just a bonus. My real business here is with the Avatar."

_As if I had to guess._ Ming-Na thought bitterly. Zhao she could take, but her mother…just the thought of her mother sent chills of fear through her. No, she would not let herself –or Aang- be taken. She would fight.

"And, by the way," Zhao said almost as an afterthought, though an afterthought she knew he had been longing to say, "it's _Admiral _Zhao now."

Ming-Na's expression faltered--for a second, but that second was all that Zhao had to catch. He smiled.

"You see, that's one of the problems of _exiling yourself_, Mingeline dear. You never hear about important information until it hits you _right in the face_. Because while you, alone and forgotten on some godforsaken island, are getting dirty and tired trying to do the impossible, I have the _honor _of being one of the most respected and feared in the entire Fire Nation."

All her previous thoughts were driven completely out of Ming-Na's head with these final words. The injustice--the unfairness…it drove her beyond reason. "You--You_ have_ no honor!" She shrieked, all composure lost.

But instead of being angered by this unparalleled insult, Zhao laughed. "It's called tact, Mingeline." He gave her a condescending look. "Weren't you, at least at first, raised with _manners_?"

Ming-Na bristled. "How--dare--you!"

"I dare to do many things these days, Mingeline. You see, that's what power gets you. Obtain it, and no one will stand in your way."

Her eyes flashed up at him, and they were full of murder. "'No one' will, say you! What about me? _I_ will stand, and fight, against you until either you lie dead--or I! The Fire Nation may fear you, but I don't. I will fight for the side of honor until my dying day!"

"Then fight." He laughed, harsh and mirthless. "Fight and feel _real _pain, if you have the courage to face me alone."

"She's not alone!" Aang said, leaping down from the sky. "I'm with her!" He landed in front of her, arm out, as if shielding her from Zhao's wrath. _And he probably is_, Ming-Na thought. But she didn't need that. The last thing she wanted was for Aang to get caught up in _her_ fight.

"Go away, Aang!" She hissed. "I can take him."

"No." He whispered back. "We're all together in this. I've done what you told me…and I won't leave a friend in danger."

Ming-Na smiled, almost despite herself, as he called her a friend. That word had not been used in so long, it seemed strange to her ears. But in a good way. "Then we fight together." She said, nodding to him.

They prepared themselves, ready for the confrontation. And then…before the first attack even started, nets were thrown over both Aang and Ming-Na. Zhao smirked as his crewmen, hidden from sight until now, came forth. "Do you _really _think I'd fight fair, Princess Mingeline?" He asked as Ming-Na snarled incomprehensibly at him.

"Princess…?" Aang asked confusedly, but Ming-Na did not hear him. She was busy throwing every oath and damnation at the Admiral that she could think of, until a kick to the head from Zhao himself silenced her as she dropped limp beside Aang. Then he was similarly dispatched, leaving Zhao standing over the two as if on a hill of spoil.

* * *

First came pain. Then memory. Ming-Na jerked upright, to find herself in a small prison cell with a headache so horrible she wished she would just drop back to helpless unconsciousness. The young warrior lay on her knees and clutched her head, where she could feel dried blood from a wound right above her right eye. She let out a low moan.

For what seems like hours she waited in absolute darkness with nothing but her thoughts of despair for company. Aside from the wound to the head, though, she had few injuries. A small number of bruises, and what felt like a sprained ankle, but it was light. Compared to what Aang would get, anyway.

She sat there, head throbbing, and tried to think what went wrong. But there was no helping it--in her condition, rational thought was beyond her capabilities. So she sat…without thinking, without feeling, until someone opened the door and she was blinded by the torchlight coming from outside her cell.

Zhao walked in, flanked by six or seven guards. Ming-Na tried to stand, but couldn't manage it. She collapsed back down without a noise though. She would not show her weakness if she could help it. So instead she just glared daggers up at Zhao.

He ignored her, as if knowing how she felt deep inside herself: beaten. "How are you feeling, Princess?" He loomed above her, enjoying his position so much that it seemed sinful. "Given up yet?"

"Never." Ming-Na said, and her voice was quiet, but hard and cold as ice--completely different from their previous encounter. Determination was etched into every line of her face, and her eyes flared with a conviction that had not been there before.

Zhao stepped forward, then hit her across the face, dropping her to the ground. "We will see, traitor." He stepped back, and motioned for three of the guards to grab Ming-Na. "Take her." He said.

Ming-Na struggled and fought as best she could, but in the end she was dragged, kicking and yelling, from her cell. They walked through hallways lit with torches and walled in metal, and Ming-Na realized that they were on Zhao's ship. She was pulled into a high-ceilinged room lit by many fires. In the center, bound hand and foot to two metal poles, was Aang. Next to him was a similar structure, and it was to this that Ming-Na was tied.

Once she was hanging limply, supported only by the chains at her wrists and ankles, Zhao stepped up to her with devastation in his eyes. "Is this to your liking, Princess Mingeline?" He smirked, then sent a look at the half conscious Aang, who looked thrice as bad as Ming-Na felt.

Aang sent a confused look at her, and she glanced back in similar fashion. _What _was Zhao playing at? Why bring her here?

"Of course, it's nothing next to the palace, I know." Zhao laughed--without a trace of mirth. "But compared to what you've been going through these last two years…well…you must feel positively _pampered_."

Ming-Na just stood there, watching. Zhao was acting as if this was a palace dinner. Why didn't he just break out the torture and get it over with?

"What are you talking about?" Aang groaned, and Zhao's eyes gleamed with delight. This, apparently, was what he had been waiting for. Ming-Na felt a cold dread wash over her, though she didn't yet know why.

"Why, don't you _know_? I thought this girl was your friend! Don't tell me she didn't tell you about her…_past_." Zhao paused, as if waiting for something. Ming-Na waited too. _What was he talking about?_ "Or was she just…_trying to trick you_."

"NO!" Ming-Na screamed. She struggled madly against the chains binding her, screaming and thrashing and crying. She knew now what Zhao was playing at. He was trying –and succeeding- to reveal Ming-Na's true motives in joining Aang and his friends. And that was the one thing that she could not let him do.

"'No' what, Mingeline? Are you saying you've got something to _hide_…? Something you wouldn't want your _close friend_ the Avatar knowing?" He looked down on her, triumph blazing luridly in his face. "That's it…isn't it, Princess? You don't want your _friend_ here knowing that," and his voice became savage, yet still full of the same gruesome triumph as before. "You aren't really his friend!" Aang gasped, and shot a look at Ming-Na. "That you are really here to capture _him_! That you are helping _Zuko_! That you want the Fire Nation to win the _war_! That you never cared about saving _anyone_! That you are part of the royal _family_! That the _last_ thing you want to do is help two _filthy peasants_ and a _weak child_ destroy your precious _Nation_! That you would kill him in a _second_ if you _could_!"

Each accusation washed over Ming-Na with a force that she had never had to bear before. It was worse than exiling herself, worse than her broken marriage, worse even than Zuko's exile. It was the weight of endless agony, of shame, of dishonor. This was what Zuko must have felt, when he himself lost his honor. And now here she was, facing it too. Only…she wasn't being dishonored for a noble choice.

Her father's voice came to her, bring with it a memory more recent than her first session in kenjutsu. It was a year later, when she had tricked one of her maidservants into a beating, all because of a stolen comb. Her father had born down upon her with such a fury she had never seen before.

_"A warrior does not deal in lies and deceit! She stands steadfast and honest. There can be no guile in a warrior's heart! You must present to the world your true face, not a disguise or falsehood! This is dishonor above all!"_

He had threatened to stop her sword lessons; thought it a fair price for straying from the path of a warrior. It was only when she had begged him, showed such heartfelt shame, than he had recalled the decision. Never again, he said. _"Then next time, you will be cast out forever." _Those were his words, and she had heeded them.

Until she has set out on her quest for honor. She had wanted to do the noble thing, help the Fire Nation become the ideal she knew it could be. But now she knew…now she knew that she had been trying to accomplish it through ways dishonorable for a warrior. She was defiling Zuko's name, the name of her nation, and her own name. All for something she thought was right.

Ming-Na wept, with such grief that many of Zhao's soldiers turned away. Their princess was dishonoring herself, and they did not want to witness it. She pleaded, begged, and displayed such uncontrolled fear and shame that Zhao himself was taken aback. But only until he looked at Aang. She deserved this, he told himself. It's on her head.

Aang himself looked every bit what Ming-Na expected: hurt, betrayed, fearful. He was gazing at her like she was a rabid animal turning on him. He looked -was this look even possible for Aang?- disgusted. "Is this true?" He asked in steely tones. "Is this true, Mingeline?"

That name. That name, the final curse, the final chain, from her past. The name of a cold, heartless ruler. A name like her mother's. Hearing Aang use it, now, was more than she could take. Excuses burst from her lips, condemning her even as they took flight.

"I'm sorry--I had to! Zuko--Zuko _needed _me! I had to help him--he was in pain--turmoil--dishonor! He needed his honor--_I _needed his honor! I couldn't bear seeing him like that!"

Aang looked startled. Then realization dawned on his face, only to be thrust back by a wave of new pleas.

"It--it was my duty! I had to! There's no way--after what…what we went through--what we were!" She turned her face up, as if pleading to Agni himself. "Father! Please forgive me! It was my duty! I love him! I had to!"

Zhao sneered. He had won. She was no threat now. She was broken. _And to think… _he gloated to himself _…you could do all this with a few…simple…words._

"It was my duty…" she had turned her head down now, in shame and disgrace. In dishonor. And those words were repeated over and over again, like a prayer for salvation.

"It was my duty…" she was untied and lead out of the room.

"It was my duty…" she was walked down the long hall.

"It was my duty…" she was brought to the door of her cell.

"It was my duty…" she was thrown in and the door shut –locked- behind her.

"It was my duty…"

* * *

"What do we do with her now, Admiral? She's still a threat to all of us."

Admiral Zhao turned to his second-in-command. And smiled. "She is no threat. I've seen people broken like that. Done it myself, actually. And believe me, people don't recover from something like that." He turned to look at the horizon, where the first impression of land was appearing. The Fire Nation, awaiting the glorious return of their princess and the captive Avatar.

"You see, that's the trouble of tying yourself to some sort of _moral code_." Zhao spoke the last two words with disgust and distaste. "You bind yourself to some impossible ideal, and the one time you _slip_ up, your whole world is brought down all around you. Look at our so-called excuse for a prince. He tried to do the…_honorable_ thing, and look what it got him. Exile and a revolting scar. Same with our Nation. It too once had the weight of _honor _and _truth _and all that. Those were the worst times in our history. But now, once we've cast all that garbage aside, look at us! The soon-to-be rulers of the entire world!"

He paused, as if reflecting on the words just spoken. Then he once more turned to the man beside him. "That's the problem with those flighty ideals. For, as just demonstrated to us, –in the most revolting of fashions- even honor has a cost, and…what was her word…and _duty _will always has it's price."

On the horizon, the Fire Nation's capital drew nearer and nearer, it's red and gold buildings covered in the bloody color of the sunrise. At this distance, it was as if the whole city was covered in blood. The blood of good men's sacrifice. The blood of honor lost and lives claimed. The blood of a way dying, even as Zhao spoke those last few words.

_To be continued… _


	6. Shards of Hope

This is a tale of honor, courage, and loyalty -the things that moved nations- where love falls back and the warrior codes of the time take the stage. More than one hundred years after the Fire Nation went to war against the Middle Kingdom and the other nations, and just more than two after the honorable Prince Zuko was exiled, a woman of honor -driven by honor, with honor as the promised reward- and rank searches the world over for the one thing that can restore her land to what it is meant to be.

**End with Honor**

**6. Shards of Hope**

The sun set in a glorious reign of fiery hues over the Fire Nation's capital. Reds, oranges, yellows, and pinks set the metal sparkling and the cloth aflame; the last real light before the torches lit. The whole city looked spectacular, robed in the colors of its name and element.

At this hour, where normally the city would be settling down to sleep, it seemed to erupt into a life that it had not seen in daylight for years. After the loss of their prince and princess, and with the Avatar's return -and steadily increasing powers- the whole place had fallen into despair. But now, with news that Admiral Zhao was bringing home not just the captured Avatar, but their long-lost princess, the city was alive like it had not been for the last two years. Children dressed in their best played outside, eagerly waiting the festival; bright-eyed girls skipped off buy new kimono or meet their lovers; young boys played warrior in the streets with wooden swords carved hours before, while their older counterparts sneaked off into the Forbidden Alleyways. Men kissed their wives in greeting after coming home from their work, while women of all ages set about finishing up the last of the cooking.

The whole place had turned out, clothed in ceremonial dress, with spirits soaring like the phoenix itself. Last night the wonderful news had reached them, and they had spent all that night and well into the next day preparing an impromptu festival the likes of which had not happened for many, many years. Everyone in the capital city, old to young, knew that this would be a night to remember.

* * *

Five hours later, and the festival was still in full swing. Attractions and booths of all kinds were stacked everywhere. People of all ages were having the time if their lives, but the current revelries hardly compared at all to what was to come at dawn. It was then that their Lady, Mingeline, would speak to them from the palace, and it was then that the Avatar would be brought to shame. Not killed, for every adult knew that to kill him would be to start the whole wretched affair over again. But they had suffered, and so, now _he _would suffer.

* * *

Five miles south, the Animosity had just reached port. Zhao was first down the ramp of his ship, smug and sinister as ever. _Nothing _could stop him now. The whole ship had been checked for potential rescuers, and there would be nobody to help the Avatar in the capital. He was guaranteed another promotion. Everything was going his way.

Just then, the two captives were brought up from below deck. One, Aang, was fighting tooth and nail to get free. It was taking over ten of Zhao's men to restrain him, and still it was tough going. He held on to his life with a flaming intensity that made many of the passersby step back in fear. But Ming-Na walked like a convict to her execution: head down, face hollow. Her eyes were blank, her whole person filthy. She seemed not to care about the world around her, nor what lay ahead. There was no spark left in her. Just cold, cold nothingness. Her heart was a barren glacial world, devoid of life or love or anything that made life worth living. But, yet, even if she had the chance to kill herself…she just couldn't. It was impossible for her to have enough passion left to even end it all.

Zhao and his men took the back ways up to the palace, avoiding everyone. No one was to see the two captives until dawn, where Ming-Na would address her people, and Aang would 'get what he deserved'. But secretly the Admiral harbored a fear inside him. The breaking of Princess Mingeline had been perfect. But now he saw that it was too perfect. How could she address the capital now? There was no way; she might even start spouting waste like 'We're wrong about the war' and 'The Avatar is right'. Hyo-Lee would have his head for sure if her daughter came home like this.

Zhao beckoned for one of his younger guards, a man in his late teens, to come forward. "Talk to her, Shen." Zhao barked. He would not plead.

"What?" the young soldier did a double take from his superior to the broken princess. "_Her_?"

"Yes, her." Zhao was losing his temper. He was so irate that he didn't even notice the lack of proper respect. "Or do you want the wrath of the Fire Lady on your head…?"

"N-No, sir, not at all. But…what do I talk to her about?"

"Whatever works!" Zhao hissed; then stalked off toward the front of the little band of soldiers.

Shen hesitated a second longer, then fell into step with Ming-Na. "I'll take over her guard." He said to the man watching her, who nodded, keen to get away from the creepy dead-like look in the young woman's eyes.

"So, princess…um…" what do you talk about to a princess, no less a princess who ran away to help the banished prince and ended up taking the side of their worst enemy only to be taken home by one of her own biggest enemies? Ah, of course…the weather. "Nice night." No reply can from her, not even a nod or shake of a head. Her eyes, though, stared at him; right at him, without blinking. He squirmed inside; they did look like something from the face of a woman dead.

"Uh…" he tried again. "How about the festival, huh? I bet you haven't been to one of these since you were a kid."

Again, a silence came back to him, and this time he did not try to talk again. Somehow, talking made things worse. After what seemed an eternity to the young soldier, they reached the palace. Quickly Ming-Na was unchained –to keep up appearances- and Zhao stepped back as the doors opened. As one, four girls rushed forward..

These were Mingeline's handmaidens, a set of quadruplets who had been selected to serve the princess. They all had wide violet eyes, and pale golden hair. These four were sacred girls, thought to be a gift from Agni to the princess. They each wore a pale pink linen dress that had short, wide sleeves and ended at the knees. Their names were Ziyi, Rie, Yume, and Lin.

As one, they rushed over to Ming-Na, looking worried and flustered. "Lady Hyo-Lee has requested you be ready in full ceremonial dress in half an hour!" Ziyi said hurriedly. She was the leader of the four, the most outspoken and opinionated. Rie took one of Ming-Na's arms, and Yume the other, and they both led her from the soldiers. These two might've shared the same soul, for they were identical in every aspect of their being. Only Lin stayed behind. Lin, the youngest emotionally. She was gentle and kind, almost like an angel, without a single mean bone in her body. Only she noticed the look in her charge's eyes. Only she noticed, and as such, it was she who turned to Zhao and, in a voice none who knew her would've guessed she possessed, said "You will _pay_ for what you did to Lady Ming."

"Oh, I don't think so, little girl. It's on your head now; yours and your sisters'." And with that, he turned and left, glad to be rid of the girl. His soldiers turned and led the Avatar to the dungeons, to let him rot until it was time for him to bleed.

* * *

The four sisters hurried Ming-Na to her room, talking to her all the while. Ziyi spoke of how her mother was enraged that her daughter had exiled herself like she had. Rie and Yume spoke as one about the way the city had become so lifeless after both the prince and princess had left. But Lin did not talk at all, save for hushed murmurings in Ming-Na's ear as she stroked her hair and rubbed her back.

Once inside, they rushed their princess to a stool in front of a full-length mirror. "Her Highness wants you ready for an audience in half an hour, so you must get ready." Ziyi said, rushing to the wardrobe and pulling out a dark red kimono. Rie and Yume hurried to work on Ming-Na's hair, first brushing it and quickly cleaning it, then they pulled it up into the ceremonial style: twisted up in the back to the left side, and held in place with a jeweled comb that trailed gossamer-fine strings of jewels after it. Lin sat beside their broken princess, stroking her hair and mumbling something inaudible in her ear.

Soon, Ming-Na stood in front of the mirror, hair pulled up in ceremonial style, earrings shaped like a single tear-shaped drop of blood on each ear, wearing a dark red kimono with wide, long sleeves and a golden fireworks pattern near the bottom. Her obi was blood red, with a pattern of cherry-blossoms on it and a golden tie around it.

"We cannot accompany you, Lady Ming," Ziyi said, bowing, "but we will send our best. Be proud, and carry yourself with honor."

Lin thought she caught a minute hint of a reaction at the final word, but even with her watchful eyes, she couldn't be sure. So she stepped forward once more, and kissed their princess once on the cheek. "Stay strong, Ming." She whispered, so no one else could catch it.

Then, Ming-Na walked out of the room, and down the long hall to her mother's audience room.

* * *

However, who she faced once she stood looking up at the onyx throne where the Fire Lady held audience wasn't her mother. It was Kazuki, Hyo-Lee's trusted retainer and rumored lover.

Kazuki was tall, taller than most people considered normal. He had silky blond hair that brushed just past his shoulders, with eyes that were colored a cold and distant ice blue. He was pale and always dressed in black.

No one knew where he came from; whether he arrived at the Fire Nation by choice or force. No one even knew what nation he was born in. He was an enigma, a man without a past. He never talked unless he had to, and socialized even less. There was only one thing concrete about him: he was ferociously loyal to Hyo-Lee; her and her alone. He would do anything she asked of him without question, no matter the consequences or conditions. In truth, he scared Ming-Na more than a little.

Ming-Na seated herself on the cold wooden floor in formal style: hands in lap, legs tucked under her, back straight. Then she bowed, forehead touching the icy floor.

Kazuki spoke. He had a deep voice that would have been nice if he showed more emotion. "I am here on behalf of Lady Hyosune to act in her place."

It was only because of the years of conditioning that Ming-Na found her voice. It was habit that allowed her to speak now. And so, as she could –and was required- she did; the ceremonial opening words of an audience between a ruler and a subject. "And I am Lady Mingeline, to answer the summons of Lady Hyosune." But even though she spoke, her voice was as hollow and emotionless as Kazuki's. She was not as she once was. She never would be.

There was silence. The official, formal greeting was over. Now the real, darker, meeting could begin.

"Do you know why my Lady has called you here, Mingeline?" Kazuki asked, and there was a touch more ice in his voice than before.

Ming-Na found, through the mental haze around her and the icy oblivion inside her that she had lost her voice again. It barely registered, however. Once more she had lost herself. What was probably her one hope had passed without effect.

Kazuki smiled icily. It was a look that was supposed to show Ming-Na that he knew she could not fool him; that he saw right through her faked silence. But when she took no apparent notice, he broke the smile, and spoke instead, taking her silence for a no. "Then listen well." He sounded angry now; but it was a cold anger, something much scarier than the burning hate of those of the Fire Nation. "Lady Hyosune is not pleased with your recent actions, Mingeline, not at all. Never before has anyone disgraced the line like that. She herself would never have guessed that it would be one of _her_ children would cause such dishonor to her family."

Ming-Na sat on the cold floor, looking up at the place where _she_ herself had sat, before her exile. A chair seated next to the one Kazuki occupied, smaller and less grand. She had sat there, not content with it, but finding nothing else. That had been before everything went wrong; before her world had been twisted into a perverse nightmare of what it once was.

She felt cold. Cold and dead; inside and out. As if she was just a shell of a girl, without any warmth to remind her that she still lived. She wondered, dimly, that if she was cut she would still bleed. She had tried many times since Zhao had broken her to gather up the scattered fragments of who and what she had been. She had tried to become strong again, to show even a small part of what she once was. But all her attempts had been weak, half-hearted. There was just no part of that girl left. All the shards of her old self –any hopes; dreams; codes- seemed to have turned to dust and scattered to the winds. She was dead inside, and it seemed a strange thing that she still looked whole on the outside. Except for her eyes. Her eyes showed just what she had become: a frozen corpse.

"You must redeem yourself, Mingeline." Kazuki spoke again. "When you address our people, do not speak of your time away. Speak _only_ of your undying loyalty to the Fire Nation. Speak of how you were wrong, and only by the grace of you mother, Lady Hyosune, are you back here without fuss. You must make amends; you have disgraced us all, and there is nothing I would like more than to condemn you to a life of dishonor and shame, but you still have a duty. So, Mingeline, you must make things right again."

With that, the audience ended, and Ming-Na was dimly aware of being escorted out of the room by two of the guards. All she could think was that she was vanishing. It was a void that she was falling into, losing everything about herself. She became spellbound in her own half-formed thoughts and dimming consciousness, until she found herself once more in the comforting arms of Lin.

"Be strong, Lady Ming." Lin whispered gently. "Be strong."

* * *

Ming-Na stood on a balcony of the east side of the palace, overlooking the city below. The balcony itself was of wrought steel, gilded over with gold on the railings and carpeted in red velvet on the floor. It was roughly around six feet in diameter, from the edge where it joined the palace to the outermost edge where it jutted out over the westernmost edge of the city capital.

Way down below her, every single inhabitant of the city had gathered. They waited expectantly for her to speak. It was what they had been promised: a glorious rebirth from the dejected existence they had suffered for the last two years. And now their princess had come to offer them freedom from that past. Freedom, and then vengeance.

Behind her, hidden from view, stood her four handmaidens. Ziyi twisted her hair, biting on the ends; Rie and Yume clung to each other in panic and nervous expectation. Only Lin seemed to be able to control her anxiety. Instead of letting her worries overcome her, she fought them back –for her princess's sake- and silently willed Ming-Na to say something. But not anything. Her princess had been through a lot, Lin knew, but the one thing Lady Ming could not do was collapse under Hyo-Lee's sway. The people needed someone to help them rise again, but not someone who would bring them to self-destruction.

Then Ming-Na spoke, and her voice shocked the four girls behind her. It was vastly, terribly, different. She had lost many things since Lin and the others had last seen her. Before, she always talked about how she would one day escape the rule of her mother. She wanted to fight for her nation. And then she had gotten her chance. But coming back now, it seemed things had not been as she thought they would be. She had lost much, and her voice told it. But she spoke, and that was all that was needed.

"People of our nation; children of Agni…" she paused, almost as if she was waging an internal battle. Her voice was sorrowful and lost; much quieter than it needed to be at such a distance from the crowd, but the architecture of this particular area of the palace made it so her voice was amplified beyond normal human capacity.

After what seemed like an eternity, she spoke again.

"I am sorry."

All four of Ming-Na's handmaidens gasped. She was complying with her hated mother, going along with her plan. It was an absolute now: Ming-Na, warrior and princess of the Fire Nation, had lost even the strength to be strong.

"I did something terrible. I strayed from my… service…as princess. I ran away as a coward. I am…shameful."

Lin, even through her tremendous grief, realized one thing. The one thing that, with no other sign to give it away, showed in Ming-Na's eyes; in the pauses between words--pauses where the speaker searched for words that no longer existed for her. It was a terrible tragedy of a thing, the final blow for Lin. _She…can't even bear to say it. _Lin thought. _The words that once sustained her as much as a mind or heart ever could. Honor…duty…she has lost those words. Not the things themselves, but…I doubt she even knows they exist now. _Lin was flooded with grief and pain. _She is…so torn inside. She's fast going to a place beyond our reach. I can't help her. No one can help her now…_ Lin wept, hard and fast, for her poor, beautiful, honorable princess, who was falling to a place she could not follow, where life and death are one in the same, and in time, all souls there implode in a dazzling incandescence of broken hope.

But Ming-Na, oblivious to the turmoil behind her, continued on. "I bring you news, though. I have returned to help our nation, the right way. The Avatar has been captured. There is nothing now stopping us from ruling as we should."

The crowd below cheered. They cheered with inspiring passion, for all they had hoped for was coming true right before their eyes. But all their hopes rested on a thin, fragile fabrication made a hundred years ago: that people can still march out to war and return unchanged.

_To be continued..._


	7. On the Edge of a Knife

Sorry for the supreme suckiness of this chapter. I have no excuse except for the fact that I think I'm catching the 101 degree fever my younger sister has, so blame her…just kidding. But bear with me, and I _promise_ the next one will be better.

* * *

This is a tale of honor, courage, and loyalty -the things that moved nations- where love falls back and the warrior codes of the time take the stage. More than one hundred years after the Fire Nation went to war against the Middle Kingdom and the other nations, and just more than two after the honorable Prince Zuko was exiled, a woman of honor -driven by honor, with honor as the promised reward- and rank searches the world over for the one thing that can restore her land to what it is meant to be.

**End with Honor**

**7. On the Edge of a Knife**

After her speech, Mingeline left the balcony. She did not want to see the Avatar –or anyone else for that matter- maimed. But not for the reasons one might think. Mingeline simply had a rather weak stomach when it came to torture. So instead, she took one of the long hallways of the palace to her rooms.

Her shoes echoed loudly on the hard floors, the noise making her uneasy. She was the only one walking these corridors; everyone else was joining in the festivities down below, probably watching with joy while Aang became both shamed and injured. But more than that, the reason she was so uneasy was because she was no longer a warrior, but a base traitor--to both the Fire Nation and the friends she had made on her travels.

No one would ever call her an honorable warrior now, not with the lies and the deceit. But most of all, not with the way she had turned her back on everything she held sacred. She had gone beyond all hope of forgiveness. Mingeline Nanamye Hinokenna de Fyre was now neither warrior nor princess--she was a deserter to integrity itself.

* * *

Later that night, there was a ball in one of the huge chambers of the palace. But Mingeline did not attend. Instead of mingling with other nobles -talking and dancing and laughing- she sat in her room, staring at the dark walls, the light in her eyes mirroring the blackness of her room.

Mingeline was showing worse for the wear in all areas. She was still in the dark red kimono of earlier, but now it was untidy: her obi has begun to unroll, causing her kimono to droop around the shoulders, and her lower legs could clearly be seen. Her hair was unbound, hanging straight down her back in ebony tangles, while the white powder on her face and the red paint on her lips were messed up. She was a desight, she knew. But she did not care.

Her eyes roamed to an empty stand on the wall opposite the one her bed was against. That stand had one held Chigiri, before she had taken it down, to use it as a weapon, in combat. But, mere days ago, her precious Chigiri had been broken.

It seemed that, like the people in her life, Mingeline's most treasured weapons had been cruelly taken from her. Her honor blade, the nobility's right of passage in her Nation, had been broken by Wei-Fei as he condemned her entire culture as barbaric and cowardly. And now Chigiri, who had been with her practically since birth, was also broken. Broken and destroyed; not even a single shard of metal remained.

She had loved that sword, as much or more than anyone ever could. It had been a symbol of her very way of life; a tangible reminder of what she had once lived for every waking moment of her life. It was a representation of all she had stood for, all her Nation stood for. It was the icon of honor, duty, courage, loyalty…and those were just at the surface. It was a promise; a promise of what she would, little by little, become: that she would grow up strong and never sway from her path; even in darkness and despair.

Zhao had snapped the blade of brave, true Chigiri in half, right in front of her hopeless face. She had not cried. It was beyond tears. Beyond pain. Beyond any hope of recovery. And after that, it had been incinerated. Chigiri would never shine again.

Mingeline felt a pain stab through her chest, and realized with a sickening clarity that she was dying. She could feel her consciousness shutting down. She was ebbing away even as this realization struck her. _Mingeline was dying_; alone in her room, without anyone to care that she would soon be gone. She was dying of a broken heart. And damn if it didn't hurt more than anything else she'd felt.

Abruptly there was a pounding on the door, and Lin's voice, crazy with fear and pent-up emotion, rang out. "Open up, Ming! Open up or I'll break the door down!"

That declaration would have been almost comical if not for present circumstances. Lin –and her three siblings- were small and petite, not at all strong enough to break down a door. Mingeline could ignore the shouts, so she did not worry when the pounding increased. Then, suddenly, the door _did_ break down, or rather, swing open--even though it had been bolted shut.

Standing there in the doorway was Lin, but next to her –the obvious cause of the opened door- was a man out of Mingeline's past. She recognized him instantly: that black hair pulled back into a ponytail, those blazing eyes that shined with indescribable emotion, and the well-muscled form of a strong bender. Wei-Fei.

The two of them rushed to Mingeline's side, and sat down next to her. They both had fear in their faces as they watched Mingeline's eyes try to focus on their own, only to see hers slide away; cloud over.

They sat there, in frantic yet hesitant silence, until someone spoke. Surprisingly, it was Mingeline herself who broke the hush. She had turned to Wei-Fei, and said in a weak voice, "You were right, Wei, about what you said when we fought. I am a coward…" She let her voice trail off, and smiled up at him feebly.

"She's dying…." Lin said in a startled and distressed voice. "What can we do, Wei-Fei, sir?" She turned up to him, eyes begging him to find a way.

Wei-Fei's eyes hardened as he turned from Lin to Mingeline. "Don't give in, Ming-Na!" He shouted. And then he shook her, so that her hair flew around her face and her kimono slipped down to the edges of her shoulders "You're too stubborn to give in now!"

"No…" Mingeline said, drawing herself away from the two of them. "I no longer matter. I should just go…it'll be so much better…for everyone." She knew it would be easier to go; to die. It would feel so much better if she just closed her eyes…

Even as she thought this, her eyes did flutter closed, and Lin began to cry. "No, Lady Ming!" she wailed. "You can't give in! Fight!"

"It's too late, Lin." Mingeline leaned forward, and kissed Lin on the cheek gently, like a mother to a child "You've been there for me always, Lin. But now…you need to let me go."

"No!" Wei-Fei snarled, and shook her harder. "Damnit, hold on, Ming-Na!" But Mingeline only stared weakly at the two of them. She could feel herself beginning to surrender her mind to the obsidian oblivion beyond the world she lived.

"We're losing her!" Lin shrieked, sobbing into Wei-Fei's shirt.

It was true. Mingeline was only minutes from death, and it seemed that nothing they could do would bring her back from the brink. She had finally gone beyond a place of return. There was no bringing her back now. Mingeline had been broken too thoroughly, and now death was imminent.

Wei-Fei gritted his teeth, and then slapped her, hard across the face. "There's no way I'm letting you go!" He screamed; voice shrill with fear. He would not; could not lose her. Not now--not ever. But his pleas went unheeded as still she slipped away.

"_Think of life_!" Wei-Fei yelled, fierce and furious as -in an act of desperation- he kissed Mingeline, hard and deep. He bit her lip and the blood filled both their mouths; the metallic taste an anchor to life. He clung to her in the tumult of emotions and fears as if he would physically _drag_ her back into life. Then, when it seemed beyond all hope, he miraculously watched her eyes clear, and he saw--literally, _saw_, the vitality and hope flow back into her.

She moaned, and shook her head, eyes blinking slowly. Then she focused on Wei-Fei, and spoke in a breathless whisper, "Am I…alive…?" Then, she felt the pain of a split lip, and the blood burned her mouth, as if in answer to her own question. She spat out the blood into the sink, allowing a soft "Ow…" to escape her lips.

"Sorry…" Wei-Fei apologized gruffly, blushing slightly as Mingeline touch her own lips. "Nothing else worked…" Lin, peeking out from behind Wei-Fei, flushed red.

They sat there in an embarrassed silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. Then Wei-Fei stood abruptly, and walked to the door. "We should be going, Lin." He said; still a little mortified at what he had done. She seemed to be fine now, or as fine as she could be after all that had happened to her in the last few days. There was no doubt that the immediate danger was past, but secretly he still worried about her. She had gone through too much to be able to escape it unharmed after only such a small catalyst. But she needed to be alone, he saw that now. It would not hurt to let her rest for a few hours.

But Lin was not to be dissuaded. Her princess was still fragile, and could easily slip back into the same scenario she had been found in. Lin suddenly got very serious at this prospect, and pushed past Wei-Fei to kneel next to Mingeline. Angrily, and with a little too much vehemence, she spoke to the princess. "Promise me you will _never_ do that again, Lady Ming. _Promise me_ that you'll keep fighting."

Mingeline sighed faintly. "I promise, dear Lin." She smiled at Lin, and stroked her cheek softly. "You're always looking out for me, aren't you." she said gently, and it wasn't a question.

"We should go." Wei-Fei said, steering Lin back toward the door. Once there, he turned and said to Mingeline "We'll come back within the hour." They crossed the threshold, and Lin turned and pulled the door to, but not before giving Mingeline a small smile. "We'll be there when you need us, Lady Ming." And with that, they left.

The first thing Mingeline did, upon realizing just how disheveled and immodest she looked, was to fix her kimono. The outer layer of cloth had come off the shoulders, and the skirt had billowed out around her legs. Even the inner layers of the kimono were slipping down, and the obi was unrolled so much that it no longer even served a purpose. It was embarrassing just how indecent she looked--and in front of a man, no less. If there was one thing all the women of Fire Nation nobility were taught, it was modesty, and if not for the circumstances, she would have been mortified.

So she loosed the obi completely, letting it slide down to the floor. Then she shed the outer kimono and the next two inner layers, until she was standing in a thin under-kimono. It was then that she caught sight of her hair, massed in tangles around her face, where tears had made the powder and paint smear and run. So she stepped to a wash basin, and washed off her face, as well as her powdered hands. Clean, she took up the task of combing her unruly hair, brushing so hard that individual hairs fell out, until it was sleek and shining once again. Then she went back to redressing. First she tightened her innermost layer of fabric, and tied it off. Then the next two inner layers followed suit. Finally, she shrugged her outer kimono back on, but –without the help of one of her handmaidens- she was unable to tighten her obi. So instead she tied off the outer layer with a spare bit of cloth; the result much the same, but looser and more subjected to work free.

After that exhausting task, she went to her bed, fully desiring a good solid block of sleep. No sooner had she lay down and closed her eyes, than she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

When next she opened her eyes, she thought that perhaps she was still asleep, for the image before her seemed unreal. An intangible woman stood –no…_floated_- before her, translucent but still managing to seem solid. She was the most beautiful woman Mingeline had ever seen, surpassing all the women in the palace, even the concubines with painted faces and shining jewels.

Her ebony hair was so dark that the shadows in the room appeared bright in comparison. Her eyes were of a golden color that was reminiscent of Zuko's, but these shone as bright and warm as sunbeams. Her skin was lily white, but instead of being a synthetic effect, Mingeline could tell it was natural, as were the blood-red color of her lips. Mingeline felt in awe of this alluring and exquisite woman, who she knew deep within her soul wasn't human.

"Do you know who I am, little Ming?" The woman spoke, in a gentle and soft voice that held equal parts of maternity, grace, and humility. Then she smiled, and Mingeline felt a lump rise in her throat as her heart expanded almost beyond bearing.

"No, my lady. I do not." She bowed low, unable to look at the woman any longer. Instead, she stared at the edge of her red silk kimono. The kimono was of crimson, with a golden phoenix embroidered on it; the tail rising from the front hem of the skirt, around the back, where it disappeared into the obi until it came back out to spread its wings across the upper back before curving its neck over the left shoulder, its head resting just above her left breast.

The woman spoke again, directing Mingeline's attention back up to her benign eyes. "I am one who you know well, yet not at all. I am the woman your dear father named you after. I am she who has watched over you since birth."

"Then, lady, _you _are Ming-Huo?" Mingeline answered the ethereal woman with an ardent reverence, for this was a woman who was perhaps more well-known than any other in the world. And now, it seemed, she had become a ten'nyo--an unblemished and pure maiden goddess.

"Yes, little Ming." And, as if reading her namesake's thoughts, she continued. "After my death, Agni himself sought me out in the heavens. He had seen something in myself that he felt merited something more than I had been given. My death itself may have had some of the doing in this, I think. Not many are willing to take this course, for to die by fire is considered the ultimate of ruinations--an act of something both sacred and sinful. But I digress…Ultimately, I was made more than human, but still vulnerable to the feelings and desires of man: a ten'nyo, or "heavenly maiden", as you knew me to be; and with that rank, I was given a new name: Minami.

"At a still later place in time, I was made the guardian of a young princess, for a child that bore my name was tied to me, and as such, it was my duty to shelter and watch over her. That child is now the young woman I see before me."

"But why do you only appear before me now!" Mingeline said, a hint of bitterness laced through the words. "So many things have gone wrong before, but why only now…?"

"I will make no excuses, little Ming." Minami lamented. "Many are the times where I could have intervened. Why, your precious father could still be with you, or even beloved Zuko. I could have stopped Zhao before he broke beautiful Chigiri, or, indeed, you. I could even have saved you from death. And I will admit that it was not divine law that stopped me all those times, little Ming. It was instead the simple truth that I knew you could overcome all these things, and come out all the stronger. And you will need all the power you have to face what is coming. But now I must give you back something that you will not be able to regain on your own. Listen well, Ming, my child: there is a battle coming. Your mother and your friends will fight for control over your mind and heart, and only you will be able to stop it. You must use all of your strengths for this engagement, and that is why I am here now."

Then, Minami paused, and leaning down, she kissed Mingeline gently on the forehead. "I give you…my most precious gift. Fight well, Ming-Na. Fight well, and with Honor…"

Then, she was gone, and Ming-Na could not tell if she had ever been there.

* * *

It was in the early hours of the morning -as the sun had just begun to rise- when Wei-Fei stopped to look in on Ming-Na; for although he had told her he would be there earlier, he knew that she needed her rest.

This time, he was alone; without even one of the four siblings who seemed to follow the young princess like her shadow--or rather, like four noisy, giggly little shadows that all seemed to be developing crushes on him.

With the unclosing of the big steel door that opened into Ming-Na's room, torchlight was thrown across her sleeping face, and Wei-Fei could see that she was resting serenely; much tidier and cleaner than she had been when last he saw her. He was amazed at the changed that had been wrought over her in the few hours of sleep. It was a change that had nothing to do with sleeker hair or neater clothes; in the light of a subtle dawn, Ming-Na seemed to be positively _glowing_.

It was amazing for Wei-Fei, watching the princess sleep and seeing just how healthy and, dare he say it, _beautiful _she looked. There was something magical about this moment; that he knew. And secretly, Wei-Fei Li was glad that he was experiencing it all on his own.

Acting on an impulse Wei-Fei closed the gap between them, and sat down on the bed next to the dreaming form of Ming-Na. He reached for her hand, and grasped it tightly, surprised at how much warmer she felt from the last time he had seen her. Then, acting, once more, on instinct than anything else, he leaned down, and gently brushed his lips against hers in a soft kiss. He loved her--this Wei-Fei knew above all else. Ever since he had found her in the capital a year and a half ago, he had loved her. She had just come off the worse in a relationship, and was seeking comfort from a broken heart. Things had just fallen in place for the two of them, as she grew to care deeply for him, and he even more deeply for her. Then, little more than a year ago, he had awoken to find her gone--room empty; wardrobe bare. And he knew then that she had never loved him; he was just someone to help her fill the gaping void in her heart. Wei-Fei knew she had really cared for him, but he knew now that the man she loved had been Zuko -which made him feel all the worse about things- and that Wei-Fei could never compare to the handsome prince of the Fire Nation, but still…Wei-Fei still loved Ming-Na, and he would do anything to help her.

For a while, he sat there, looking on her face, wondering what she had done since leaving him. He had heard tales in the palace; that she had joined up with the Avatar, but somehow this was hard to believe. He knew for a fact that some Admiral Zhao had brought her back, along with the Avatar, and that she had come off the worse. At this thought, he turned, and left. As much as he hated it, this was now her battle, and he knew it was not his place to fight with her. As much as he wanted to help her, he knew she would never let him, and so…he let her go.

"I'll be back for you, Ming-Na." He said, pausing at the door. "When all this is over, I promise I'll return for you…"

* * *

When Ming-Na rose, four hours after Wei-Fei left her room, she felt better than she ever had since she left the palace. It seemed like a dream, those two years, a dream filled with both sadness and joy; pain and pleasure. But most of all, it had been a dream of honor--finding it, losing it, and needing it.

But it wasn't a dream. Those memories and emotions had been real, and things were still far from over. Now she had regained her strength, and with it, a burden beyond anything she had received so far. Now, she must confront her mother--the woman who she feared more than the Fire Lord himself.

There was no doubt in her mind that the woman in her dreams had been real. The question was -if she remembered the ten'nyo's words correctly- _what_ exactly had she been given? Quickly, Ming-Na looked around her room for signs of…a weapon? She really had no idea what the gift was. It could be anything…

Deciding that it was futile to look for something whose form she did not know, she elected to get dressed instead. But instead of putting on one of her constricting kimono, she dressed in her well-worn hunting leathers, over which she rested the Fire Nation armor she had received from her father on her fourteenth birthday. Next, she bound her hair back with a leather thong, to keep it out of her face. Finally, she crossed to the small armory set into the back of her closet, and pulled out a sword. While she would have traded it in a second for Chigiri, that was no longer an option. Its name was Kataki -meaning 'revenge'- and that was exactly what she would wreak.

* * *

As Ming-Na walked down the hallways of the palace, a plan began to form in her mind. Minami had said that there was a war coming, a war, not for land or goods, but for the sole influence over the mind of Princess Mingeline. Of course, Hyo-Lee wanted control back over her daughter, while –less obvious but still there- Wei-Fei and Aang's group also wanted to cast their dominion over her--to end the war, maybe…But the one thing both parties had overlooked –even she herself had overlooked it, for a very long time- was that the young woman that they knew was no longer Princess Mingeline. She was Ming-Na, warrior of the Fire Nation. She would not be held back by senseless rules, or act the role of the porcelain doll at court. Instead, Ming-Na would fight with all she had--all her passion, all her strength, and every last bit of the honor within her…But most of all, she would fight with the love she felt for her Nation; for with that, she would help it grow strong. She would make it proud.

The first step to accomplishing that dream, however, was to face her mother; to face her, and let it be known between them that Hyo-Lee could never control her daughter again. Ming-Na, who had no fear in any other task, felt herself tremble when she thought of what she would have to do now. Ming-Na feared Hyo-Lee even more than the Fire Lord himself, and with good reason, for Hyo-Lee knew all of the weaknesses of the young warrior: her fears, her dreams, and the things she loved. Each and every one of these would be exploited in the final conflict, but Ming-Na could not run anymore. This time, she would stand and fight.

Soon she found herself at the doors leading to the wing of the palace that belonged to Hyo-Lee. Ming-Na walked up to one of the guards stationed in front of the aforementioned door, and spoke in a commanding and imperial tone. "I am Ming-Na, daughter of Lady Hyosune and princess of the Fire Nation." She would not call herself Mingeline, not after estranging herself from that identity forever. "Let me in."

The guard laughed mirthlessly. "I do not know of any 'Ming-Na', and neither, I think, does Lady Hyosune."

"Let me in!" Ming-Na demanded forcefully. "Do not think I am powerless, for--"

"You _are_ powerless." Ming-Na turned around to find herself face-to-face with Kazuki. He was a good foot-and-a-half taller than her and so surprised was she, that she took a few steps back. But Kazuki merely continued with what he had been saying.

"Here, Lady Hyosune holds the power. And it would be wise not to forget that again, for you are always only a lesser pawn in the game."

"I must see her." Ming-Na said, ignoring to the best of her ability Kazuki's insult. She would not let anything stop her now that she had a goal. "It is urgent I speak to my mother!"

"She will not see you." Kazuki said coldly, drawing himself up to his full height. "You have disgraced us all, what with your antics these past two years. Now it is your turn; your turn to suffer in ignorance, not knowing what your own flesh and blood is doing to shatter the vision you have worked with all your heart to become a reality."

"My mother does not have a vision." Ming-Na said quietly. But Kazuki did not hear; Kazuki could not hear, for Ming-Na was back in her room, disheartened and disquieted. "She does not have a vision…She has a twisted nightmare."

But with those words, Ming-Na realized that, if what she herself said was true, then it was all the more urgent that Hyo-Lee must be stopped. _And if mother won't see me by choice,_ Ming-Na thought to herself, _then by the gods, I'll make her notice me by force._ And with that, Ming-Na headed out for the training grounds.

* * *

After an hour, Ming-Na had attracted the attention of every man and woman in the training ground she was in. It had been quite a chore, for without the power of her Firebending, -which Hyo-Lee had taken from her as punishment for her choice of exile over duty- she had had to rely on her swordsmanship to attract the attention she needed for her plan to work. She also had to do it alone, to make the feat she was trying to achieve all the more noticeable. And finally, while Kataki was a good sword, Ming-Na was still getting used to the new blade, making the task she was attempting all the more difficult and therefore, all the more dangerous.

_What _she was attempting was a very perilous and beautiful combat art form called the Sword-Dance. The Sword-Dance was a ritual that had been born during the early days of civilized rule, and, some say, was directly descended from the Firebending art of Agni Odori, or Fire Dance, only with a sword as medium. It was not a game; something to be taken lightly; this dance was a thing of elegance and peril, and was never undertaken unless the dancer was absolutely sure of themselves and their abilities.

A single blade is taken by the dancer, and is thereafter swung around the body in ever-increasingly close and difficult maneuvers. All this is done while the dancer is jumping, and all maneuvers must begin and end while the dancer's feet have left the ground. The result, if done correctly –and with any skill- is very alluring--with the blade flashing is the sunlight, and the mesmerizing beat of feet on and off the ground. Onlookers have very often breathed only scarcely while watching a Sword-Dance, for fear the drawn-in air would break the spell of fey beauty and cause the dancer to falter.

To keep it up for an hour was amazing. To keep the watchers this attentive for an hour was beyond human. But Ming-Na, no matter where she dwelled in the world, or what she was feeling at any moment, had always loved to dance. Whether it be the small, delicate movements she practiced as royalty, the free and deadly dance of combat, or even the turbulent and improvised dance that had sprung up in the middle of a street when her father had taken her down to the market, she danced and loved it all. But after engaging herself in princess dance, peasant dance, and even warrior dance, she still returned with a longing in her soul to Sword-Dance. It was her art; her gift. She never had any great talent in her studies, and Firebending –while exhilarating and beautiful- was something she had always had to work at to be any good at all with--but there were two things that came easily and wonderfully to Ming-Na: skill and ease with a sword, and grace and beauty in a dance.

Hyo-Lee did not know of Ming-Na's love for –and talent at- the Sword-Dance. Nor would she have ever found out, if things had stayed as they were two years ago. But now, Ming-Na danced with one thought in mind; one summons in her steps: 'Come to me. Come to me and look well. I will show you the truth about your daughter.' And eventually, she thought she did see a flash of red-gold kimono, but even as Ming-Na fixed her eyes upon it…it vanished.

But Ming-Na was not one to let people down -either herself or others- and so, she did not stop the dance as Hyo-Lee was lost from her sight, but kept on dancing, until, as the sun shone directly above the practice field. Only then did she let her sword drop to her side, feeling both happy and sad about the dance. On the one hand, she had kept it up for a little over three hours, but for another, she was no closer to meeting her mother than she had been at the start of the day.

While she thought, the crowd gradually began to disperse, until there was only one other person still near her; a girl around Ming-Na's own age, who was watching the warrior intently. But when Ming-Na finally turned to face the other girl, she saw with a sinking heart that it was Ziyi, and she did not look pleased.

"Lady Ming, what are you thinking!" she said; her hushed voice still able to convey the anger and shock she was feeling despite its volume. "You are in no condition to be up, let alone--" But Ziyi cut herself off as she looked, truly _looked_ at Ming-Na. The young warrior wad not sweating or panting in exertion; she looked perfectly fine; so fine in fact, that she was positively _glowing,_ exactly as Wei-Fei had seen here hours before.

"What is it?" Ming-Na asked, a tad bit impatient with Ziyi. "First you yell at me for doing something that you know well I wouldn't do if I wasn't up to it, and now you're staring at me like I'm some kind of freak."

"It's--Ming-Na, you're glowing!" Ziyi breathed, awed and humbled at the same time. She had never seen her Lady Ming look so beautiful and alive as she did now.

But for some reason, Ming-Na could not see the glow. "No, I'm not." She said –not unkindly- to Ziyi. "What are you talking about?"

"How can you not see it?" Ziyi asked; her eyes wide. "How _can _you not? It's all around you…shining so brightly. It's so beautiful…"

Ming-Na was horrified to see tears welling up in her friend's eyes--tears, not of heartbreaking sorrow, but of heartbreaking joy. _Something_ was moving this girl, a great singing in the soul, and it was terrifying that Ming-Na herself could not see or take part in the exaltation of wonder Ziyi was experiencing. Then, gradually at first, fear began in rise in her, until she drowned in it like a diver in the ocean during a storm. Something was wrong with her--something she could neither see nor feel. The one place Ming-Na had always prided herself for complete control over was her body, so it scared her incalculably that there was something wrong with it that she had no power over.

"W-What are you talking about?" The words came out as a whisper, a forced sound that had no strength in it or dominion over it. "I-I'm not. H-How c-could I!" How was it that someone else was seeing something she herself wasn't; let alone something strange and unnatural?

Ziyi seemed entranced, however, and was not listening to Ming-Na's pleas for rationality. "The light is so bright…" she said, almost to herself. "I can see it…shining within you…"

Ming-Na ran--ran from the training grounds up to the palace –hurtling along corridors with an almost inhuman speed- until she found her room. She thrust the door open, then slammed it shut behind her; drawing the bolt tight across it.

Fear and confusion fought for dominance in her head, while she slid down to the floor of her room. Her back was to the door, and as such, once she lifted her eyes from the floor, she could see herself reflected in the full-length mirror directly opposite her. She could see the panic that potential abnormality brought her; the desperation to run away from those who inevitably saw something in her that had awoken without consent; and even the loss of control so evident in her posture; her expression; her eyes. But most of all, she saw the exquisitely glowing aura that surrounded her with light and love, and –even when her worst faults were so evident- made her beautiful.

Then there came a terrible swelling in her heart, as if she was experiencing too much joy to be contained within a cage of flesh and blood; too much for her to handle. It engulfed her, and she felt herself grow hot--beyond feverish, so that she slipped into her own world; her only lucid thought a frenzied wish to get out of her own skin. She had lost all control now.

She jumped to her feet with blurring speed, fed by the caustic emotions churning within her, and punched the air with both fists in the savage desire to release some of the red-hot energy within her. And, as a more primeval part of her knew, the uncontrollable heat, volatile energy, and even the otherworldly glow was directed to the arms, then the hands, until it all shot out in two blasts of fire.

Then it was gone; everything -the discomfort; the spinning of her mind; even the fire she herself had produced- had vanished, while one single thought permeated her brain. _I was just Firebending…_ Then blackness swallowed her, and she fainted in a heap on the floor.

_To be continued…_


End file.
